KATE 

THURSTON'S 

CHAUTAUQUA 

CIRCLES 


UN 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


IIA. 
-i£ 


••«• 

.    »     , 


KATE  THURSTON'S 


CHAUTAUQUA  CIRCLES 


BY 


MRS.  MARY  H.  FIELD 


SECOND  EDITION. 


MEADVILLE  PENNA 
FLOOD  AND  VINCENT 

Cbautauqua- £enturp  prc  0* 
»     1893 


Copyright,  1891, 
By  Flood  and  Vincent. 


The  Chautauqua-Century  Press,  Meadville,  Pa.,   U.  8,  A. 
Electrotyped,  Printed,  and  Bound  by  Flood  &  Vincent. 


PS 


89 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAOK 

I.    NEW  ENTERPRISES      -  1 
II.    IN  WHICH   THE   SAN   BENITO 

CIRCLE  is  FAIRLY  LAUNCHED  23 

III.  THE   CIRCLE   MEETS    AT    THE 

PARSONAGE       -  33 

IV.  A  SHUT-IN  CIRCLE-       -  45 
V.    A  CHAUTAUQUA  "BOOM"  AND 

A  SET-BACK   -  72 

VI.    WOMANLY  WISDOM     -  87 
VII.    THE    ROUND    TABLE    IN    THE 

CANON  98 

VIII.    BY  MONTEREY  BAY  125 

IX.    THE  FRIENDS'  MEETING    -       -  156 

X.    THE  CHAUTAUQUA  ASSEMBLY  165 

XI.    ON  LOVERS'  POINT  197 

XII.    AT  CARMEL  MISSION         -       -  207 

XIII.    THE  LAST  ROUND  TABLE     -  222 


967689 


^t^';*  •Y'^'"N 


.  •*  X 

*       •> 

r»  * 


.- '  v. :/ 


KATE  THURSTON'S 
CHAUTAUQUA  CIRCLES. 

CHAPTER  I. 

NEW  ENTERPRISES. 

THE  new  schoolhouse  at  San  Benito  was  done 
at  last.  The  carpenters  had  been  gone  a  month 
and  the  painters  were  putting  on  their  last 
strokes.  The  Chinaman  who  had  cleared  away 
the  debris  from  around  the  building  was  engaged 
to  give  the  interior  as  faithful  a  putting  to 
rights.  The  new  school  furniture  was  already 
in  the  freight  room  at  the  railway  station;  and 
now  the  trustees  held  a  meeting.  There  was  a 
new  trustee  as  well  as  a  new  schoolhouse;  indeed 
the  new  trustee  was  the  cause  of  the  new  school- 
house,  and  at  the  meeting  the  new  trustee,  as 
his  custom  was,  made  himself  distinctly  felt. 

Old  Colonel  Dobson,  who  had  ruled  San  Ben- 
ito's  educational  interests  for  years,  reluctantly 
now  passed  over  the  scepter  to  young  Dr.  Hall, 
who  was  evidently  the  coming  man  of  San  Ben 
ito,  and  who  had  recently  received  its  unanimous 


2  KATE  THURSTON'S 

vote  for  school  trustee.  At  this  meeting  to 
which  allusion  had  been  made,  the  question 
as  to  what  teacher  should  preside  in  the  new 
schoolhouse  was  to  be  decided.  Colonel  Dobson 
said  he  "  reckoned  that  Sally  Parker,  who  had 
taught  the  school  for  nigh  on  to  five  years  and 
would  work  cheap,"  was  the  proper  person  to 
employ,  but  Dr.  Hall  was  strongly  in  favor  of  a 
new  teacher  with  later  methods  and  better  edu 
cation,  a  Normal  School  graduate  with  modern 
ideas.  As  to  salary  he  was  heartily  opposed  to 
cheap  teachers,  and  thought  San  Benito  could 
afford  to  let  the  new  teacher's  wages  match  the 
requirements  of  the  day.  "If  San  Benito  is 
going  to  hold  up  its  head  with  other  towns  its 
children  must  be  well  taught,"  he  said,  "and 
no  good  teacher  can  be  had  for  a  pittance." 

Dr.  Hall  had  a  way  of  carrying  his  points, 
and  thus  it  came  to  pass  that  Miss  Kate  Thurs- 
ton  brought  her  Normal  School  diploma,  her  new 
trunk,  her  bright  pleasing  face,  her  thoughtful 
young  head,  and  her  two  years  of  successful 
teaching  experience,  to  the  little  California  town 
of  San  Benito.  She  found  her  new  home  very 


CHAUTAUQUA   CIRCLES.  3 

picturesque  and  charming,  nestling  among  the 
foothills  of  the  coast  range  of  mountains  which 
separated  it  from  the  great  Pacific,  and  her 
boarding  place  in  the  town  to  which  she  went 
on  recommendation  of  the  trustees,  proved  all 
that  she  could  desire.  The  family  was  made  up 
of  a  widowed  mother  with  a  gentle,  patient  face, 
two  slender  daughters  who  worked  at  dress 
making,  and  two  boarders,  one,  a  young  man, 
was  a  clerk  in  the  largest  dry  goods  store  of  San 
Benito,  the  other  a  youth  of  brawny  mold  and 
vigorous  appetite,  was  a  blacksmith's  ap 
prentice.  Mrs.  Brooks,  the  housekeeper,  had  a 
look  and  way  like  Kate's  own  mother,  with 
much  native  refinement  and  kindliness. 

So  Kate  settled  down  with  scarcely  a  home 
sick  pang,  in  her  pleasant  little  gable-windowed 
room  in  Mrs.  Brooks'  cottage.  She  unpacked 
her  trunk,  arranged  her  simple  wardrobe  in  a 
convenient  closet  and  in  a  chest  of  drawers,  and 
then  with  a  sort  of  cheerful  zeal  began  to  take 
out  from  their  wrappings  her  beloved  books. 
There  was  no  special  book-case  in  the  room,  but 
this  lack  she  seemed  to  have  anticipated,  for 


4  KATE  THURSTON'S 

from  the  bottom  of  her  trunk  she  brought  out  a 
set  of  hanging  book-shelves  and  a  little  rack 
which  could  stand  on  a  table  and  hold  a  dozen 
volumes.  Then  she  went  down  stairs  for  per 
mission  to  put  a  couple  of  screws  into  the  wall, 
and  coming  back  in  a  moment  went  to  work  in 
a  brisk  fashion  to  put  up  the  shelves.  In  a  little 
while  she  had  her  books  all  in  order  on  them 
and  stood  back  with  her  hands  behind  her  and 
her  head  a  little  on  one  side  taking  a  survey  of 
her  accomplished  work.  First,  of  course,  came 
a  well  worn  array  of  schoolbooks  ;  then  there 
was  Hammerton's  "Intellectual  Life";  a  volume 
of  selections  from  Ruskin  ;  a  "  History  of  Art "  ; 
half  a  dozen  volumes  of  Rolfe's  Shakespeare ; 
half  a  dozen  or  more  "  Little  Classics"  ;  "  Bits 
of  Talk,"  by  H.  H.;  a  volume  of  Mrs.  Brown 
ing's  Poems;  a  Lowell,  Holmes,  Whittier, 
Longfellow,  and  Tennyson,  in  standard  editions; 
in  a  row  by  themselves  some  capital  children's 
books  evidently  for  schoolroom  reading :  Haw 
thorne's  "Tanglewood  Tales  and  Wonder  Book" ; 
Hans  Andersen's  Tales;  "William  Henry's 
Letters  to  His  Grandmother  "  ; "  Hans  Brinker's 


CHAUTAUQUA   CIRCLES.  5 

Skates  "  ;  "  Little  Women  "  and  "  Little  Men  " 
and  "Nellie's  Silver  Mine."  The  upper  shelf 
held  the  Chautauqua  books  for  the  current 
year,  '83-84:  "A  Brief  History  of  Greece"; 
"  Pictures  from  English  History  " ;  "  The  Phi 
losophy  of  the  Plan  of  Salvation  ";  "  Lessons  in 
Vegetable  Biology,"  and  half  a  dozen  of  the  well 
known  little  ten-cent  Chautauqua  text  books. 
Miss  Kate  surveyed  the  whole  miniature 
library  with  an  expression  of  entire  satisfaction 
and  then  altered  slightly  the  arrangement  of 
the  Chautauqua  books.  As  she  ran  her  hand 
over  them,  evening  and  settling  them  in  their 
final  places,  one  could  easily  detect  a  lingering 
touch  which,  if  it  had  been  on  the  sunny  head 
of  a  little  child,  one  would  call  a  caress.  She 
then  moved  the  small  table  which  was  part  of 
the  room's  furnishing  near  the  window,  opened 
both  its  leaves,  took  out  of  her  trunk  a  large 
square  of  olive  green  flannel  bordered  with 
bright-figured  cretonne,  and  spread  it  on  the 
table,  then  set  her  book-rack  on  it  and  put  into 
it  her  Teachers'  Bible,  her  hymn  book,  Peloubet's 
Notes,  Farrar's  "Life  of  Christ,"  "The  Imitation 


6  KATE  THUKSTON'S 

of  Christ,"  by  Thomas  &  Kempis,  a  small 
Webster's  Dictionary,  a  classical  dictionary ,  and 
a  cyclopedia  of  English  literature.  Near  the 
rack  she  laid  her  Harper's  Geography ,  a  brand- 
new  classical  atlas,  and  her  portfolio  of  writing 
materials.  She  hung  her  pretty  calendar  near 
the  window,  then  hung  in  a  good  light  two  or 
three  choice  engravings,  set  her  home  photo 
graphs  on  a  bracket  where  the  dear  familiar  eyes 
could  watch  her  constantly,  and  then  sat  down 
in  the  little  cane-seated  rocker  and  smiled  at  the 
"  homey  "  look  which  the  room  had  taken  on  so 
quickly.  There  was  white  straw  matting  on 
the  floor,  white  drapery  on  the  bed,  and  a  white 
muslin  curtain  at  the  window.  The  air  of  the 
whole  room  was  cool  and  pleasant  and  the 
young  maiden  felt  a  sense  of  deep  content  in 
its  clean  simplicity  and  refinement. 

The  next  morning  she  went  over  by  appoint 
ment  to  the  new  schoolhouse  and  there  met  the 
trustees.  As  she  glanced  around  with  the  air  of 
one  to  the  manor  born,  praised  the  height  and 
size  of  the  main  room  and  its  sunny  windows, 
looked  critically  at  the  plan  for  ventilation,  and 


CHAUTAUQUA   CIRCLES.  7 

made  sensible  suggestions  as  to  the  arrangement 
of  the  blackboards  and  desks,  Dr.  Hall's  face 
expressed  solid  pleasure,  while  even  Colonel 
Dobson  caught  a  ray  or  two  of  enthusiasm.  He 
beamed  upon  Miss  Thurston  patronizingly  and 
informed  the  loungers  at  the  post-office  corner 
that  evening  that  he  had  got  a  schoolma'am 
now  for  San  Benito  who  was  "  smart,  smart  as 
a  whip!"  and  he  smiled  complacently  as  if  to 
himself  alone  San  Beiiito  owed  this  phenomenal 
acquisition. 

School  opened  the  first  day  of  September. 
There  were  forty  scholars  great  and  small,  all 
ages,  sizes,  and  kinds  of  children,  mostly  of 
American  parentage  but  with  a  sprinkling  of 
Germans ;  two  or  three  little  Italians,  half  a 
dozen  black-eyed,  black-haired  Spanish  children, 
and  one  small  ebony-hued  son  of  Ham  who  kept 
his  white  teeth  almost  constantly  in  sight,  not 
withstanding  a  ragged  coat,  bare  feet,  and  the 
not  infrequent  snubs  of  the  superior  Anglo- 
Saxon. 

The  new  teacher  was  almost  appalled  at  the 
amount  of  work  to  be  done.  She  had  not  been 


8  KATE  THURSTON'8 

long  in  the  field,  and  only  in  a  graded  school, 
but  she  went  resolutely  at  the  business  of  classi 
fying  and  organizing  and  did  the  best  she  could 
under  the  circumstances.  One  thing  she  ac 
complished  apparently  without  effort :  she  won 
the  hearts  of  her  scholars.  At  the  very  first 
recess  the  big  boys  pronounced  her  "jolly,"  the 
girls  said  she  was  "perfectly  splendid,"  and 
little  black  Pete  brought  her  in  the  afternoon  a 
bunch  of  bright  marigolds,  which  she  took  with 
cordial  thanks  and  wore  in  the  belt  of  her  white 
apron  all  the  rest  of  the  day. 

The  first  few  days  were  so  full  of  school  work 
that  there  was  not  a  moment's  time  for 
anything  else,  but  when  a  month  had  gone  and 
order  had  been  evolved  from  chaos,  and  Miss 
Thurston  had  begun  to  get  a  little  acquainted  in 
San  Benito,  had  been  to  church  and  Sunday- 
school  and  undertaken  there  a  class  of  big  boys, 
and  had  become  a  little  familiar  with  the  at 
mosphere  of  the  whole  place,  her  heart  went  out 
toward  the  hard-working,  uncheered  mothers, 
the  aimless  young  women,  the  young  men 
idling  away  their  evenings  on  the  street  or  in 


CHAUTAUQUA  CIRCLES.  9 

the  hotel  bar-room,  and  as  she  sat  down  to  her 
pleasant  "  Chautauqua  hour"  one  evening,  she 
seemed  to  have  a  sudden  inspiration  :  "  Yes," 
she  said,  half  aloud,  "  why  not  have  a  Chautau 
qua  Circle  in  San  Benito  ?  It  is  the  very  place 
for  one !" 

With  Kate  Thurston  deeds  followed  thoughts 
as  promptly  as  sunrise  follows  dawn.  She  went 
directly  down  stairs  to  talk  with  Mrs.  Brooks, 
whom  she  found  in  the  family  sitting  room, 
mending  in  her  kind  motherly  fashion  the 
young  blacksmith's  coat.  He  sat  by  in  his  shirt 
sleeves  reading  the  San  Francisco  Argvx,  while 
the  big,  unshaded  kerosene  lamp  shone  with  an 
impartial  glare  into  the  eyes  alike  of  mender 
and  reader.  The  two  daughters  of  the  house, 
Martha  and  Jennie,  were  rocking  listlessly,  each 
in  a  little  cane-seated  rocker  on  either  side  of 
the  fire-place,  where  a  wood  fire  gave  out  its 
cheerful  glow,  changing  the  very  commonplace 
room  and  scene  into  a  pretty  family  picture. 

11  Come  right  in,  Miss  Thurston,"  Mrs.  Brooks 
said  cordially,  "  we  like  to  have  a  call  from  you 
at  any  time." 


10  KATE   THUMSTON'8 

But  Kate,  whose  quick  eyes  always  took  in 
everything,  said,  "Excuse  me  one  moment, 
Mrs.  Brooks,"  and  running  up  to  her  own  room 
returned  in  a  moment  with  a  lamp-shade  of 
green  paper  which  she  dropped  lightly  over  the 
uncomfortable  lamp. 

"There,  Mrs.  Brooks,  try  that  and  see  if  it 
isn't  pleasanter,"  she  said,  "  and  if  you  think  it 
is  I'll  make  you  a  present  of  it.  Eyes  are  too 
precious  to  be  put  out  just  for  lack  of  a  bit  of 
green  paper." 

There  was  a  chorus  of  thanks  as  Kate  took  a 
proffered  chair  and  joined  the  family  group. 

"What  do  you  find  in  the  newspaper,  Mr. 
Thompson  ?  "  she  asked. 

"  Wa'al  not  much  of  anything,"  responded 
the  young  man,  and  then,  as  if  half  doubtful  if 
the  fault  were  his  or  the  paper's,  he  added, 
"  I've  been  reading  it  near  an  hour,  and  every 
time  I  come  to  anything  worth  reading,  I've 
read  it  out  loud.  Just  ask  these  ladies  what  it 
amounts  to,"  and  he  waved  his  big  hand  toward 
the  two  girls  and  laughed  in  genuine  amuse 
ment  at  his  and  their  predicament  when 


CHA  UTA  Uq  UA     CIRCLES.  11 

challenged  to  tell  what  valuable  information  that 
big  finely  printed  eight-page  sheet,  known  as 
The  Daily  Argus,  had  conveyed  to  their  re 
ceptive  minds.  They  all  joined  in  the  laugh; 
but  Jennie,  the  younger  of  the  two  sisters,  who 
had  a  vein  of  originality,  came  to  the  rescue  of 
the  newspaper:  "There  was  the  weather  re 
port,"  she  said  ;  "  we  all  want  to  know  whether 
these  clouds  mean  rain — and  there — "  after  a 
moment's  thought,  "  don't  you  remember,  John, 
about  that  traveling  humbug  with  the  stone  to 
put  in  the  lamp  to  keep  the  kerosene  from 
exploding  ?  It  was  a  good  thing  to  put  mother 
on  her  guard  about  that,"  and  they  all 
laughed  again  over  the  allusion  to  Mrs.  Brooks' 
well  known  weakness  toward  itinerant  ped 
dlers. 

"Then  there  was  that  horrid  murder  in  St. 
Louis,"  ventured  Martha,  "  maybe  Miss  Thurs- 
ton  would  like  to  hear  that." 

"No,  no,"  Miss  Thurston  begged  in  accents  of 
real  distress,  as  young  Thompson  began  to  search 
for  it.  "  Please  let  me  tell  you  what  I  was  read 
ing  just  before  I  came  down  stairs.  It  was  one 


12  KATE   THURSTON'S 

of  my  Chautauqua  books.    Do  you  know  what 

that  means?" 

There  was  a  general  confession  of  ignorance, 
and  she  went  on  in  her  wise,  pleasant  way: 
"  I'm  sure  it's  not  at  all  strange  that  you  don't 
know,  but  this  is  just  the  time  for  me  to  tell  you 
about  it "  ;  and  in  a  few  words  she  told  the  story 
of  Chautauqua  Lake,  its  attractive  summer 
meetings,  and  the  gradual  development  of  the 
great  Chautauqua  scheme  for  popular  education. 
As  she  advanced  with  her  story  she  leaned 
forward  and  talked  earnestly  and  eloquently  of 
the  grand  possibilities  which  the  Chautauqua 
idea  unfolded  before  the  minds  of  those  who 
longed  for  more  knowledge  and  broader  avenues 
of  thought  and  life,  and  her  little  audience  was 
quite  moved  by  her  enthusiasm.  She  almost 
forgot  to  tell  them  about  her  book,  as  she  talked 
on  and  on  of  her  beloved  Chautauqua,  but  was 
recalled  by  Jennie's  question,  "What  is  the 
name  of  your  book  that  you  are  reading  now — 
the  one  you  started  to  tell  us  about  ?  May  I  go 
up  and  bring  it  down  to  you  ?  " 

"Yes,  indeed,  you  may,"  said  Miss  Thurston, 


CHAUTAUQUA    CIRCLES.  13 

"  that  will  be  the  very  best  way  to  tell  you  all 
about  it.  It  lies  right  on  my  table  and  is  called 
'  Biographical  Stories.' " 

Jennie  brought  the  book  with  cheerful  alacrity. 
Mr.  Thompson  put  on  his  repaired  coat  and 
changed  places  with  Miss  Thurston,  who  talked 
for  a  few  moments  about  the  author  of  the  book, 
America's  most  original  and  beautiful  story 
teller,  Hawthorne,  and  then  began  to  read  aloud 
in  a  cultured,  well  modulated  voice  the  simple, 
quaint,  delightful  pages  of  her  book.  She  did 
not  omit  the  li ttle  thread  of  story  on  which  the 
biographical  sketches  are  hung,  but  read  it  all, 
explaining  that,  though  written  for  children,  it 
seemed  to  her  as  true  and  wise  and  good  for 
grown  people  as  for  young  folks ;  nor  did  her 
hearers,  though  far  less  appreciative  than  her 
self,  fail  to  catch  the  inimitable  charm  and 
sweetness  of  the  great  master's  style.  If  she 
paused  as  if  to  close  the  evening's  reading,  they 
begged  her  to  go  on,  until,  almost  ere  she  knew 
it  herself,  and  notwithstanding  the  many  ex 
planatory  and  illustrative  bits  of  talk  into  which 
she  had  branched  off,  the  little  book  was 


•     V,  * 
oii- 


^ 


14  KATE   THUHSION'S 

finished  and  the  clock  on  the  mantel  struck  ten. 

They  were  all  converted  to  the  Chautauqua 
idea. 

"  Let  us  start  a  Circle ! "  cried  Jennie. 

"  I'd  like  to  join  first-rate,"  said  John. 

"  'Pears  like  I'm  too  old  and  too  busy  and  out 
of  the  way  of  such  things,"  said  Mrs.  Brooks, 
her  pale  cheeks  flushing  at  the  vastnjess  of  the 
project,  "  but  I'd  like  to  meet  with  the  rest  if  I 
couldn't  do  anything  more." 

"  Indeed  you're  not  '  too '  anything,  dear 
Mrs.  Brooks,"  said  Miss  Thurston  warmly; 
"  that  is  what  Chautauqua  is  for, — to  help  the 
tired'and  busy  and  over-worked  people  to  some 
thing  fresh  and  restful." 

"  I'm  sure  mother  can  keep  ahead  of  me  in 
reading  or  studying,"  said  Martha  Brooks. 
"  Don't  you  know,  ma,  how  you  always  helped 
us  with  our  books  when  we  went  to  school? 
Ma  was  a  splendid  scholar  when  she  was  young, 
Miss  Thurston  ;  she's  got  a  Shakespeare  she  won 
for  a  prize  when  she  was  a  girl,  back  in  the 
States." 

"  There  !  there ! "  cried  Miss  Thurston  merrily, 


CHAUTAUQUA    CIRCLES.  15 

taking  Mrs.  Brooks'  work-worn  hands  in 
her  own,  "we'll  not  let  you  hide  your  light 
under  a  bushel  any  longer.  You  shall  be  one  of 
our  charter  members,  and  to-morrow  we'll  all 
invite  our  friends  to  meet  in  the  schoolhouse 
some  evening  within  a  week  and  organize  the 
'San  Benito  Chautauqua  Circle."' 

The  next  morning  at  breakfast  there  was  an 
eager  discussion  of  plans.  The  other  member 
of  the  family,  Mr.  Fowler,  was  made  acquainted 
with  the  scheme.  He  was  a  somewhat  vain  and 
dressy  young  fellow  with  that  vaguely  superior 
style  which  in  California  is  universally  known 
as  "high-toned,"  and  he  might  naturally  hesi 
tate  over  joining  an  association  not  distinctly 
aristocratic,  but  Miss  Thurston's  manifest  leader 
ship  in  the  affair  won  his  guarded  consent  and 
his  promise  to  invite  two  or  three  of  his  acquain 
tances.  Thus  there  was  a  nucleus  of  six  members 
to  begin  work  for  the  new  C.  L.  S.  C. 

When  Miss  Thurston  went  to  her  school  that 
morning  she  dropped  a  letter  into  the  post-office 
addressed  to  the  State  Chautauqua  Secretary, 
asking  for  fifty  circulars  giving  the  aim  and 


16  KATE  THURISTON'S 

method  of  the  society  and  containing  the  year's 
course  of  study,  also  for  two  dozen  application 
blanks;  and  by  the  time  appointed  for  the  public 
meeting  she  was  well  provided  with  these 
accessories.  She  also  took  over  to  the  meeting 
her  own  set  of  Chautauqua  books  and  the  maga 
zine  which  is  the  well-known  organ  of  the 
Circle.  The  schoolhouse  was  lighted  up  pleas 
antly  and  some  twenty-five  or  thirty  people 
were  scattered  around  in  little  groups  talking  in 
neighborly  fashion  when  Miss  Thurstxm  and 
her  friends  of  the  Brooks  household  arrived.  It 
required  a  little  courage  for  her  to  walk  forward 
to  her  desk  and  deposit  her  books  with  the  air 
of  a  presiding  officer,  but  she  was  gallantly  sup 
ported  by  young  Thompson,  who  had  put  on  his 
Sunday  clothes  and  was  from  head  to  foot  in  a 
highly  polished  condition.  The  minister  of  the 
village  church,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Chapman,  was  also 
present  and  ready  to  lend  a  hand.  So,  greatly 
to  Kate's  relief,  he  consented  to  take  the  post  of 
responsibility  behind  the  desk,  provided  she 
would  do  all  the  talking.  Now  Kate  had  never 
faced  an  audience  of  grown-up  people  except 


CHAUTAUQUA    CTRCLE8.  17 

upon  school  exhibition  days,  and  her  heart  beat 
in  the  most  unmanageable  fashion  when  Mr. 
Chapman  arose  and  said:  "You  will  please 
come  to  order,  my  friends,  and  Miss  Thurston 
will  address  the  meeting." 

Poor  Kate  arose,  grasped  a  Chautauqua  circu 
lar,  and,  clinging  to  that  small  spar,  launched 
forth  upon  her  maiden  public  speech.  Her  first 
glance  forward  revealed  to  her  Colonel  Dobson 
on  one  of  the  front  seats,  and  two  or  three  other 
dignitaries  in  close  proximity.  She  caught  a 
glimpse  also  of  Dr.  Hall's  intelligent  face  in  the 
background,  and  in  that  kind  of  condensed 
thought  which  characterizes  the  swooning 
brain,  wondered  what  his  opinion  was  in  regard 
to  woman  on  the  lecture  platform. 

Most  of  the  people  seemed  very  far  away  and 
the  young  speaker  had  a  sudden  inspiration : 
"  Will  you  all  please  come  forward  ?  "  she  said, 
11 1  can  talk  to  you  so  much  more  easily";  and 
by  the  time  the  little  commotion  of  moving  was 
over  she  was  quite  ready  to  plunge  into  her 
subject. 

"You  are  all  aware,"  she  began,  "that  we  have 


18  KATE  THURSTON'S 

met  to  talk  over  theChautauqua  idea  and  if  pos 
sible  to  organize  a  Chautauqua  Circle.  The  word 
Chautauqua  doesn't  mean  much  as  yet  to  the 
people  west  of  the  Rockies,  except  where  the 
Chautauqua  idea  has  taken  root  and  is  bearing 
its  beautiful  spiritual  fruit,  but  at  the  East 
where  all  our  educational  systems  have  had 
their  origin,  and  to  which  we  must  look  for  our 
inspirations  till  California  outgrows  its  material 
age,  there  Chautauqua  means  a  hope  and  a 
promise  to  hosts  of  aspiring  souls.  It  will  soon 
grow  to  be  a  familiar  word  with  us  all.  We 
have  only  to  say  it  resolutely  three  or  four  times 
and  it  loses  its  foreign  and  aboriginal  sound. 
Let  us  say  it  together,"  and  she  wrote  Chau- 
tauqua  on  the  blackboard  in  a  bold  hand,  and 
gave  them  all  an  opportunity  to  say  it  over  with 
her  till  it  was  learned.  Then  she  described  to 
them  Chautauqua  Lake  and  its  great  annual 
Assembly  and  grew  very  eloquent  over  the 
founders.  Finally  she  read  from  the  little  circu 
lar  the  concise  statement  in  regard  to  the 
C.  L.  S.  V.  and  showed  the  audience  her  books 
and  The  Chautauquan.  John  Thompson  and 


CHAUTAUqUA   CIRCLES.  19 

Jennie  Brooks  then  distributed  the  circulars 
and  forms  of  application,  and  Kate  sat  down 
feeling  very  warm,  and  sure  she  had  said  too 
much  or  too  little,  she  couldn't  tell  which.  Her 
distress  was  completed  by  Colonel  Dobson's 
arising  in  the  most  patronizing  way  and  saying, 
with  much  prefatory  eloquence,  that  he  con 
sidered  this  plan  a  great  thing  for  "  people  with 
out  eddication." 

Poor  Kate  herself  was  altogether  too  well 
versed  in  human  nature  not  to  know  that  even 
a  tacit  confession  of  ignorance  is  an  unpleasant 
thing  to  require  of  an  ordinary  mortal,  and  in 
her  little  speech  she  had  carefully  avoided  say 
ing  that  the  Chautauqua  course  of  reading  was 
especially  intended  to  remedy  a  lack  of  early 
education.  She  had  dwelt  with  the  tact  of  a 
bright  teacher  on  the  other  side  of  the 
subject  and  presented  it  as  an  excellent 
supplement  to  even  a  good  education,  and  as  an 
admirable  review,  of  which  even  the  learned 
were  glad  to  avail  themselves.  She  knew  very 
well  that  Colonel  Dobson's  remark  would  repel 
all  people  of  his  own  caliber  who  prided 


20  KATE  THURSTON'S 

themselves  on  their  learning,  but  she  concluded 
to  let  it  pass  unchallenged,  especially  as  the  min 
ister  followed  the  Colonel  quickly  with  a  kind 
endorsement  of  what  she  had  said. 

Then  came  the  usual  whispering,  hesitation, 
and  delay,  with  all  of  which  Miss  Thurston  was 
very  patient,  begging  her  friends  to  ask  ques 
tions  which  a  few  finally  ventured-  to  do.  At 
the  end  of  half  an  hour  John  and  Jennie 
gathered  up  the  filled-out  applications  and  be 
hold  there  were  ten  !  Kate  glanced  them  over 
with  interest.  The  names  were  those  of  the 
minister  and  his  wife  ;  Mrs.  Brooks  ;  Jennie  ; 
Martha ;  John  Thompson;  John's  "boss,"  as 
he  always  termed  his  employer,  a  blacksmith 
with  a  good  strong  German  face  ;  a  Mrs.  Fiske, 
of  whom  Kate  had  heard  as  a  bright  intellectual 
woman  ;  and  two  young  ladies  who  were  older 
sisters  of  one  of  Kate's  schoolboys,  Flora  and 
Lizzie  Towner. 

Kate  was  just  a  little  disappointed  that  her 
eloquence  had  not  persuaded  more,  but  she  said 
with  a  smile  that  ten  was  a  very  good  number 
and  they  would  proceed  at  once  to  organize. 


CHAUTAUqUA   CIRCLES.  21 

Dr.  Hall  rose  to  say  that  nothing  but  his  feel 
ing  that  he  must  work  in  special  professional 
lines  that  winter  kept  him  from  joining  the 
Circle,  but  he  would  try  to  attend  the  meetings 
if  he  might  be  allowed  the  privilege.  Colonel 
Dobson  here  got  upon  his  feet  again  and  said  he 
would  encourage  the  Circle  by  dropping  in  now 
and  then,  while  young  Fowler  slipped  out  about 
this  tune  without  filling  out  an  application, 
thus  withdrawing  his  support  and  leaving  John 
Thompson  the  only  young  man  in  the  society. 

Mr.  Chapman  promptly  nominated  Miss 
Thurston  for  President,  thus  forestalling  her 
scheme  to  nominate  him  for  the  same  respon 
sible  position.  She  was  elected  before  she  had 
tune  to  think  whether  it  was  best  to  accept  the 
position  or  not.  Mrs.  Fiske  was  made  Secretary, 
John  Thompson,  Treasurer,  and  the  San  Benito 
Chautauqua  Circle  was  an  established  and 
officered  institution.  In  a  few  minutes  more  it 
was  decided  to  send  for  the  needed  number  of 
books  and  begin  work  directly,  also  to  meet  on 
every  other  Friday  evening  and  have  as 
thorough  a  review  of  the  topics  gone  over  as  the 


22  KATE  THURSTON'S 

time  would  permit,  enlivened  by  the  various 
devices  which  the  fertile  brain  of  the  President 
and  the  suggestions  of  The  Chautauquan  maga 
zine  might  afford.  Half  a  dozen  copies  of  the 
magazine  were  ordered — one  by  Dr.  Hall  and 
one  by  Colonel  Dobson,  who  was  not  to  be  out 
done  by  the  new  trustee  in  any  regard  whatever. 
Kate  had  offered  the  use  of  her  copy  to  the 
Brooks  household.  Nothing  remained  to  be 
done  but  to  ask  the  blessing  of  the  great  Teacher 
upon  the  new  organization,  which  the  minister 
did  with  much  earnestness.  John  Thompson 
put  out  the  lights,  and  Kate,  thoroughly  tired, 
but  with  the  blessed  consciousness  that  she  was 
" lending  a  hand"  to  an  enterprise  of  wide  and 
noble  possibilities,  walked  home  with  Mrs. 
Brooks  along  the  uneven  and  dusty  streets  of 
San  Benito. 


CHAPTEE  II. 

IN  WHICH  THE  SAN  BENITO  CIRCLE  IS  FAIRLY 
LAUNCHED. 

THERE  was  a  little  delay  about  getting  the 
Chautauqua  books,  but  before  the  time  for  the 
first  meeting  they  had  arrived  and  were  dis 
tributed,  and  Kate  had  felt  paid  for  all  her 
troubles  when  she  saw  the  timid  pleasure  with 
which  Mrs.  Brooks  put  on  her  spectacles  and 
sat  down  to  learn  her  first  lesson. 

"'Pears  like  I  wasn't  more  than  sixteen," 
she  said,  as  she  turned  the  pages  with  hands  that 
trembled  with  eagerness. 

Nor  was  it  any  less  a  reward  for  Kate  to  see 
John  Thompson  making  an  extra  eflbrt  to  re 
move  the  grime  of  his  day's  toil  from  his  brawny 
hands  ere  he  took  possession  of  his  book.  He 
was  washing  and  scrubbing  at  a  sink  on  a  side 
porch  where  he  usually  performed  his  ablutions, 
and  talking  with  Jennie  Brooks  through  the 


24  KATE  THURSTON'S 

open  window  on  which  his  Greek  history  lay. 

"Who'd  a  thought,"  he  exclaimed,  "that  I'd 
ever  tackle  such  a  book  as  that ! " 

"Just  as  likely  as  that  we  would,"  answered 
Jennie.  "Martha  and  I  haven't  had  much 
chance  at  school  since  pa  died,  and  they  never  had 
any  history  but  United  States  in  school,  anyway, 
and  that  was  dreadful  dry  and  hard  to  learn." 

Kate  went  down  into  the  sitting  room  in  the 
evening  to  give  them  all  a  little  start.  She 
always  brought  an  air  of  good  cheer  with  her 
and  they  claimed  now  that  she  was  in  the 
"very  nick  of  tune."  So  she  drew  up  by  the 
lamp  and  taking  the  Greek  history  said  : 

"  It  is  just  delightful  to  think  what  a  houseful 
of  Chautauquans  we  are.  I  wish  Dr.  Vincent 
could  see  us  !  Why,  it's  a  real  economy  of  tune 
to  have  so  many  people  living  together  who 
want  to  do  the  same  thing.  Don't  you  see  in 
how  many  ways  we  can  help  each  other?  One 
can  read  aloud  sometimes  and  the  others  can 
sew  or  crochet — " 

"  That'll  help  me,"  said  John,  "  crocheting  is 
right  in  my  line." 


CHAUTAUQUA    CIRCLES.  25 

Of  course  they  all  laughed,  but  Kate  nothing 
daunted  went  on  :  "  Then  one  dictionary  hunter 
can  save  time  and  eyesight  for  the  rest ;  and 
we'll  be  coming  upon  bright  ideas  in  the  papers 
and  everywhere  that  will  throw  light  on  all  our 
studies,  and  each  one  will  have  the  benefit  of  all 
that  the  others  bring  in  of  these  gleanings  ;  and 
last  but  not  least  we  shall  all  be  thinking 
about  the  same  things  and  talking  them  over  at 
table  and  everywhere,  and  of  course  we  shall 
sharpen  each  other's  wits." 

"  Miss  Thurston  has  a  very  nice  way  of  saying 
'  we,' "  said  John. 

"  To  be  sure  I'll  say  we,"  answered  she,  "  un 
less  you  think  it  sounds  too  conceited  in  me  to 
take  it  for  granted  that  I  may  have  some 
thoughts  worth  telling  as  well  as  the  rest  of  you," 
whereupon  they  all  had  another  laugh. 

"  Now,  have  you  a  dictionary,  girls,  and  an 
atlas  ?  "  asked  the  teacher. 

Fortunately  there  was  a  good  old  Webster  in 
the  parlor  cupboard — a  dictionary  altogether 
too  new  looking  for  the  credit  of  the  family — 
and  it  was  now  brought  forth  from  its  hiding 


26  KATE  THURSTON'8 

place.  Atlas  there  was  none,  but  Miss  Thurston 
thought  the  maps  in  the  history  would  answer 
very  well,  and  her  own  good  atlas  was  always 
at  their  service.  And  so  they  chatted  together 
and  made  their  plans  and  grew  accustomed  to 
the  idea  of  turning  their  plain  little  sitting 
room  into  an  academy  and  themselves  into 
scholars. 

When  Friday  evening  came  the  Circle 
gathered  by  invitation  in  Mrs.  Fiske's  beautiful 
parlors.  Every  one  was  on  hand,  for  Mrs.  Fiske 
had  sent  a  kind  little  note  of  special  invitation 
to  each  one  including  the  "  visiting  members," 
as  she  had  named  the  two  trustees.  Mr.  Fiske 
was  San  Benito's  principal  lawyer,  and  his 
home  was  far  more  elegant  than  any  other  in 
the  little  village,  but  its  gracious  mistress  was 
never  more  hospitable  than  to  the  Chautauqua 
Circle. 

Mr.  Fiske  considered  his  wife  as  just  a  trifle 
"cranky"  in  her  philanthropies  and  she  had 
undergone  not  a  little  teasing  in  regard  to  this 
new  enterprise,  but  she  had  refused  to  be  at  all 
disconcerted  by  it  and  went  steadily  on  with 


CHAUTAUqUA    CIRCLES.  27 

her  preparations.  She  had  heard  of  the  Chau- 
tauqua  movement  through  an  Eastern  cousin 
and  was  in  just  the  mood  to  co-operate  heartily 
with  Miss  Thurston,  with  whom  she  had  quite 
fallen  in  love,  as  she  frankly  confessed  to  her 
husband.  That  wary  gentleman  had  lighted 
his  cigar  after  dinner,  on  this  momentous 
occasion,  and  started  toward  the  door  with — 
"  You'll  excuse  me,  my  dear,  this  evening.  I'll 
go  down  to  the  office  and  write  awhile."  But 
his  wife  followed  him  with  her  most  winning 
smile.  "  I  don't  believe  it  would  bore  you  one 
bit,  Charlie,  if  you  would  stay  at  home,"  she 
said.  "  Stay  and  help  me,  won't  you  ?  "  And 
she  looked  so  persuasive  that  Mr.  Fiske,  who 
was  a  good  deal  of  a  courtier,  found  her  quite 
irresistible,  so  he  yielded  with,  "Why,  yes, 
Lottie,  I'll  stay  if  you  really  wish  it  so  much; 
and  just  to  please  you  I'll  be  a  good  little  boy 
and  go  right  along  to  school  if  that's  what 
you're  scheming  for,  but  I  warn  you  if  this 
young  schoolma'am  of  yours  is  as  nice  and 
pretty  as  you  say,  I  may  get  too  fond  of  my 
books." 


28  KATE   THURSTON'S 

He  was  rewarded  for  his  good  behavior  in  a 
very  satisfactory  way,  and  when  the  guests  be 
gan  to  arrive,  Mr.  Fiske  stood  beside  his  wife,  as 
courteous  a  host  as  could  be  desired. 

Miss  Thurston  introduced  John  Thompson, 
who  was  not  a  little  embarrassed  at  first  by  the 
unwonted  elegance  of  his  surroundings,  and 
poor  Kate's  blood  mounted  to  her  temples  as  he 
dropped  heavily  into  a  luxuriantly  upholstered 
chair  with  a  crash  that  was  truly  alarming.  But 
Mrs.  Fiske  came  to  the  rescue  with  womanly 
tact  and  was  not  long  in  drawing  the  young 
man  into  a  really  intelligent  conversation  about 
his  business.  The  awkward  boy  forgot  his  un- 
wieldly  hands  and  feet  and  answered  Mrs. 
Fiske's  artful  questions  with  a  good  sense  and 
an  amount  of  knowledge  which  rewarded  her 
for  her  politeness. 

One  ring  followed  another  in  rapid  succession 
and  soon  the  dozen  friends  were  all  assembled. 
Martha  and  Jennie  Brooks  had  often  sewed  for 
Mrs.  Fiske  and  so  felt  quite  at  home,  and  their 
mother  was  a  member  of  the  same  church  as  the 
hostess  and  thus  had  the  best  and  strongest  of 


CHAUTAUQ,UA  CIRCLES.  29 

relationships  with  her.  Altogether  there  was 
not  nearly  so  much  restraint  and  chilliness  as 
Kate  had  feared.  She  found  to  her  great  delight 
that  Mrs.  Fiske  had  laid  upon  the  table  a  fine 
classical  atlas  and  a  copy  of  Bryant's  Homer, 
also  a  beautiful  art  album  with  photographs  of 
the  Acropolis  and  other  famous  places  in  Athens 
as  well  as  a  few  of  the  most  renowned  pieces  of 
ancient  statuary.  She  had  not  supposed  that 
such  help  could  be  found  in  San  Benito,  but 
was  only  having  the  experience  which  every 
one  has  who  tries  to  help  those  about  them. 
From  the  most  unexpected  quarters  and  often 
with  the  most  surprising  opportuneness  just  the 
needed  assistance  comes. 

The  latest  arrival  was  Dr.  Hall,  and  he 
brought  a  priceless  bit  of  old  pottery,  evidently 
part  of  a  once  beautiful  vase,  which  a  friend  had 
sent  him  from  the  excavations  at  Mycenae. 

The  Circle  was  not  prepared  with  a  regular 
lesson  this  evening  as  the  books  had  not  been 
distributed  in  season,  but  all  were  now  ready  to 
begin,  and  the  young  President  had  many  plans 
and  arrangements  to  propose,  which,  with  a 


SO  KATE   THURSTON'S 

bright  talk  about  the  importance  of  the  little  land 
of  Hellas  in  the  world's  history,  filled  the  even 
ing.  Mr.  Fiskewas  drawn  into  this  conversation 
and  grew  really  eloquent  over  the  culture,  bril 
liancy,  and  long  renown  of  the  old  Hellenes, 
while  Dr.  Hall  said  some  equally  good  things 
about  the  Iliad  and  Odyssey  and  their  place  in 
literature. 

Mrs.  Fiske  brought  a  book  from  the  library 
describing  ancient  Greek  life  and  customs  and 
read  interesting  extracts,  after  which  the  book 
was  passed  around  to  give  all  an  opportunity  to 
see  the  old  dress,  houses,  utensils,  and  other 
matters  of  everyday  life.  Finally  Miss  Thurs- 
ton  read  from  the  Iliad,  at  Mrs.  Fiske's  request, 
the  parting  of  Hector  and  Andromache,  and 
charmed  them  all  with  her  simple,  natural,  ex 
pressive  reading  of  the  exquisite  story. 

The  lesson  was  assigned  for  the  next  meeting; 
a  very  brief  one,  as  it  was  the  first,  and  Miss 
Thurston  was  wise  enough  not  to  let  any  one 
be  discouraged  at  the  outset.  A  topic  was  as 
signed  to  each  regular  member  and  an  essayist 
appointed  to  prepare  a  ten-minute  paper  upon 


CHAUTAUQUA     CIRCLES.  31 

the  laws  of  Solon.  This  essayist  was  selected  by 
drawing  slips  of  paper  from  a  box  and  the  honor 
fell  upon  our  friend  John  Thompson. 

Miss  Thurston  then  distributed  some  "Chau- 
tauqua  Songs,"  and  they  all  made  their  first 
attempt  at  some  genuine  Chautauqua  music. 
"With  the  help  of  Mrs.  Fiske's  piano  it  went  off 
extremely  well. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Chapman  invited  the  Circle  to 
meet  next  time  at  the  parsonage,  which  offer  was 
accepted,  and  the  Circle  after  a  cordial  and  grate 
ful  good  night  to  its  hosts,  straightened  itself  out 
into  a  procession  and  then  diverged  into  little 
groups  of  two  or  more  homeward  bound  people. 
We  may  be  sure  there  were  no  unfavorable 
criticisms  on  the  evening's  entertainment. 

"I  never  saw  anything  like  it  in  all  my  life," 
said  Mrs.  Brooks  with  genuine  enthusiasm ; 
"  'pears  like  the  most  sensible,  improving 
Christian-like  evenin'  I  ever  spent  outside  of  a 
regular  prayer  meetin'." 

John  Thompson  was  unusually  still  as  they 
walked  along.  He  was  thinking  that  he  would 
see  whether  a  fellow  of  his  age  could  begin  down 


32  KATE   THURSTON1  S 

at  the  foot  and  little  by  little  learn  how  to  talk 
as  Dr.  Hall  and  Mr.  Fiske  did — "sort  of  easy 
and  yet  so  smart." 

Kate  Thurston  was  saying  over  and  over  to 
herself:  "I  am  so  glad  I  thought  of  a  Chau- 
tauqua  Circle  in  San  Benito." 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fiske  were  lingering  over  the 
little  fire  still  glowing  in  their  grate.  "  Were 
you  bored,  Charlie?  Now  tell  the  truth,"  she 
asked. 

11  Well,"  he  laughingly  admitted,  "  one  doesn't 
need  to  be  a  very  great  sufferer  when  your  friend 
Miss  Thurston  reads  Homer  ! " 


CHAPTEE  IIL 

THE   CIRCLE  MEETS  AT  THE  PARSONAGE. 

IT  is  very  certain  that  the  land  of  Hellas 
received  most  unwonted  attention  in  San  Ben- 
ito  during  the  next  two  months,  but  nowhere 
was  it  discussed  with  quite  so  much  earnestness 
and  enthusiasm  as  in  the  plain  little  home  of 
Mrs.  Brooks.  The  young  blacksmith  did  not 
study  up  the  subject  of  old  Solon  and  his  laws 
without  enlisting  the  lively  interest  of  all  the 
family.  There  was  great  ransacking  of  old  his 
tories,  of  neighbors'  encyclopedias,  and  of  other 
possible  sources  of  information.  Then  John, 
having  thus  secured  his  material,  wrote  and  re 
wrote  in  the  seclusion  of  his  own  room  for 
several  evenings,  until  with  an  air  of  immense 
relief,  yet  with  a  humility  really  pathetic,  he 
brought  his  completed  essay  to  Miss  Thurston 
for  criticism  and  correction.  His  honest  face 


34  KATE   THURSTON'S 

was  suffused  with  blushes  and  his  hands  fairly 
trembled  as  he  gave  his  half  dozen  pages  of 
foolscap  to  the  schoolmistress,  with  the  apolo 
getic  remark  that  he  "always  was  dreadful 
awkward  with  his  pen." 

Ah  !  the  tact  and  good  sense,  the  frankness 
and  yet  the  kindliness,  with  which  that  gentle 
critic  corrected  the  spelling,  straightened  the 
grammar,  and  improved  the  rhetoric  of  that 
paper,  and  then  made  John  supremely  happy 
by  saying:  "Now  re- write  this,  John,  and  then 
read  it  to  the  Circle  as  well  as  it  deserves  to  be 
read,  and  we'll  all  be  proud  of  you.". 

This  literary  effort  had  seriously  affected 
John's  appetite  for  a  whole  week,  and  Mrs. 
Brooks  was  growing  quite  alarmed  about  his 
health,  but  when  the  great  enterprise  was  fairly 
off  his  mind  her  anxiety  was  entirely  relieved  ; 
John's  favorite  viands  disappeared  with  their 
old  rapidity. 

The  table  conversation  at  Mrs.  Brooks'  be 
came  decidedly  classical.  Young  Fowler  grew 
more  and  more  ill  at  ease  as  the  family  talked  of 
old  Hellenic  mythology,  of  Homer  and  Hesiod, 


CHAUTAUQUA    CIRCLES.  35 

of  Lycurgus  and  Solon.  For  several  days  he 
maintained  a  dignified  silence,  and  then,  as 
Thompson's  dawning  superiority  grew  more 
evident,  he  quietly  succumbed  to  the  prevailing 
current,  asked  Miss  Thurston  one  morning  for 
a  form  of  application,  paid  his  fee,  and  sent  for 
the  books.  Alas  !  the  supply  in  San  Francisco 
was  exhausted,  and  for  several  weeks  Fowler 
meekly  borrowed  his  rival's  history  and  caught 
up  with  the  rest  as  fast  as  he  could.  His  even 
ings  were  not  so  much  his  own  as  if  he  had 
been  in  other  business,  but  he  found  that  there 
was  many  an  odd  minute,  when  no  customer 
was  in,  that  could  be  put  to  excellent  use.  His 
Greek  history  went  regularly  to  the  store  with 
him,  and  he  soon  equaled  John  Thompson  in 
his  interest  in  Dr.  Schliemann  and  other  archae 
ologists. 

Miss  Thurston  was  made  very  happy  by  the 
reports  which  John  brought  home  in  regard  to 
his  employer,  Christian  Leib.  He  had  been 
well  educated  in  "the  fatherland,"  and  was 
delighted  to  be  again  doing  some  intellectual 
work.  He  and  John  had  exchanged  ideas 


36  KATE  THURSTON'8 

about  Solon  and  the  Athenian  democracy, 
and  when  this  conversation  was  repeated  by 
John  to  Miss  Thurston,  she  said:  "Mr.  Leib 
must  be  called  out  at  our  next  meeting.  His 
ideas  are  worth  telling  and  we  must  not  let  his 
diffidence  keep  him  in  the  background  any 
longer.  I  for  one  like  his  strong  German 
accent." 

At  the  parsonage  there  was  careful  preparation 
for  the  next  meeting  of  the  Circle.  The  good 
minister  and  his  wife  made  a  great  effort  to  do 
the  reading  faithfully,  but  it  was  a  heroic  per 
formance  for  a  busy  country  pastor  with  his 
multifarious  duties ;  still  more  heroic  for  the 
minister's  wife  with  her  three  little  children, 
house  work,  sewing,  calling,  church  work,  con 
stant  interruptions, — only  two  hands  and  two 
feet  and  work  enough  for  a  dozen  pairs  of  each. 
It  was  one  of  those  blessed  families,  however, 
where  they  bear  one  another's  burdens,  and  so 
the  burdens  never  seemed  unbearable.  Mrs. 
Chapman  had  a  way  of  guarding  her  husband's 
study  door  for  a  few  hours  every  morning,  thus 
diverting  from  him  a  thousand  needless  calls. 


CHAUTAUQUA   CIRCLES.  87 

And  he  had  an  equally  considerate  way  of  see 
ing  that  she,  too,  had  a  little  tune  each  day  for 
the  books  and  music  which  had  been  so  dear  to 
her  girlish  heart,  a  fact  which  he  well  knew  had 
made  no  small  part  of  her  charm  to  his  own 
book-loving  taste.  Sometimes  he  carried  off  the 
three  babies  for  an  hour  or  two  of  outdoor  or  in 
door  play ;  sometimes  he  lent  a  hand,  without 
the  slightest  loss  of  dignity,  at  almost  any  kind 
of  domestic  work  ;  and  always  when  the  chil 
dren  were  tucked  up  in  bed  he  brought  a  book 
or  paper  and  read  aloud  to  the  busy  young 
mother  whose  mending  and  making  often  lasted 
through  the  whole  evening. 

The  parsonage  was  a  rather  small  house  with 
a  decidedly  small  parlor  which  Mr.  Chapman 
used  as  a  study,  a  smaller  sitting  room,  two  or 
three  bed  rooms,  and  a  kitchen  which  was  by 
far  the  largest  room  in  the  house,  so  that  Mrs. 
Chapman  used  it  also  for  a  dining  room ;  and 
in  summer,  when  the  cooking  range  went  into 
a  rear  kitchen,  it  was  the  family  gathering 
place  more  frequently  than  any  other.  As  they 
planned  for  the  Circle  they  surveyed  the  study 


38  KATE  THURSTON'S 

and  the  little  sitting  room  with  equal  disfavor. 

"  Could  the  kitchen  possibly  do  ?  "  suggested 
the  minister  in  a  sort  of  despairing  tone,  and 
with  no  thought  that  his  wife  would  tolerate 
the  idea. 

"Why,  I  never  thought  of  such  a  thing,"  she 
answered,  "  but  do  let  us  take  a  look  at  it." 

It  was  Friday  morning  and  in  the  evening 
their  guests  were  due.  They  had  been  talking 
in  the  study,  and  now  they  proceeded  to  view 
the  kitchen  in  the  role  of  a  reception  room.  It 
was  a  long  and  rather  narrow  room  extending 
entirely  across  the  house,  a  cooking  stove  at  one 
end  with  cupboard  and  cooking  table ;  at  the 
other  end  a  small  extension  table.  A  new 
bright-checked  matting  was  on  the  floor  and 
pretty,  modern  shades  were  at  the  windows. 

"It  would  hardly  do  to  ask  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Fiske  out  here,  I  suppose,"  said  Mr.  Chapman, 
half  laughing,  as  his  wife  stood  with  a  look  of 
deep  calculation  knitting  her  smooth  brow. 

"Dexter,"  she  exclaimed,  "now  is  the  time 
to  make  me  that  screen  frame  you  promised  me 
last  winter.  If  you'll  go  right  over  to  the 


CHAUTAUQUA   CIRCLES.  39 

carpenter's  shop  and  have  that  done  by  noon  I'll 
tack  the  cloth  on  this  afternoon.  I'll  go  out  and 
buy  it  the  minute  baby  goes  to  sleep. — This 
room  will  do  splendidly  !" 

When  evening  came  an  artistic  dark  red 
screen,  with  long  peacock  feathers  laid  diagon 
ally  across  it,  shut  off  every  suggestion  of 
culinary  appointments.  The  extension  table 
was  made  its  full  size  and  had  the  piano  cover 
on  it,  chairs  were  drawn  around  it  and  a 
student's  lamp  in  the  center  lighted  the  room 
pleasantly.  Ivy  was  twined  around  the  one 
picture  on  the  wall,  an  excellent  engraving  of 
Bolton  Abbey  in  the  olden  time.  A  great  vase 
of  chrysanthemums,  yellow,  white,  and  pink, 
brightened  one  corner  of  the  room,  while  the 
baby,  who  had  discovered  the  commotion  in  the 
air  and  therefore  resolutely  refused  to  go  to 
sleep,  made  another  picture,  so  beautiful  that 
the  entire  San  Benito  Chautauqua  Circle,  which 
came  in  almost  in  a  body,  declared  that  there 
was  never  anything  lovelier  in  art  or  story — not 
even  the  "starry"  little  Astyanax  of  whom 
Miss  Thurston  had  read  at  the  last  meeting. 


40  KATE  THURSTON' 8 

The  Circle  had  nearly  doubled  in  numbers. 
The  Misses  Towner  brought  a  cousin,  a  sensible 
young  man  who  was  teaching  in  the  country  a 
few  miles  out  of  San  Benito,  but  having  a  pony 
at  his  disposal,  thought  he  could  attend  the 
meetings  of  the  Circle.  Dr.  Hall  brought  two 
more  young  men — two  of  the  very  ones  Miss 
Thurston  had  noticed  and  sighed  over  as  she 
had  glanced  at  the  post-office  corner  whenever 
she  was  on  the  street  in  the  evening — young 
men  with  apparently  no  occupation  but  to  lean 
against  a  building  or  a  lamp  post  and  watch 
passers-by.  Mrs.  Fiske  brought  her  husband, 
still  protesting  that  he  would  be  just  "  a  looker- 
on  in  Vienna,"  and  Christian  Leib  brought  his 
wife,  who,  to  the  surprise  of  Miss  Thurston,  was 
not  a  German  but  a  tall,  slender  and  rather  deli 
cate  looking  woman  with  a  decided  Yankee  look 
and  manner.  She  still  further  demonstrated 
her  nationality  by  saying  as  soon  as  she  was  in 
troduced  to  the  company,  that  she  had  "  always 
been  calculating  to  do  some  more  reading  and 
now  she  guessed  she'd  join  the  Circle  if  the  rest 
were  agreeable. ' '  There  were  also  several  visitors. 


OHAUTAUQUA  CIRCLES.  41 

The  young  President  made  haste  to  welcome 
all  the  newcomers  and  the  Secretary  was 
equally  cordial,  while  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chapman 
arranged  seats  for  all  and  in  every  way  proved 
themselves  as  graceful  entertainers  as  even  the 
Fiskes  had  been. 

The  roll  was  called  and  every  member  re 
sponded.  The  topics  were  then  called  for  in 
regular  order,  and  although  the  sound  of  her 
own  voice  was  something  very  frightful  to  Mrs. 
Brooks,  who  held  topic  No.  1,  yet  she  managed 
to  go  safely  through  a  little  statement  in  regard 
to  the  geography  of  Greece.  Mr.  Fowler  did  up 
his  subject  in  fine  style.  Mrs.  Fiske  had  the 
early  inhabitants  of  Greece  for  her  subject,  and 
told  the  story  of  the  old  Aryan  emigrations,  and 
of  the  way  in  which  the  record  of  their  slow 
journeyings  and  colonizings  had  been  trans 
mitted  by  root  words  destined  to  be  picked  out 
and  deciphered  ages  afterward. 

Christian  Leib  was  just  a  little  hampered  by 
a  lack  of  English  words  with  which  to  tell 
what  he  knew  about  the  Spartans,  but  was  duly 
prompted  by  his  alert  wife,  who  showed  very 


42  KATE   THURSTON'S 

plainly  that  she  had  indeed  been  a  helpmate 
to  him  in  his  resolute  struggle  with  an  English 
text-book. 

After  the  topics  were  disposed  of  Miss  Thurs- 
ton  called  Mr.  Leib  out  again  upon  the  subject 
of  the  Greek  capability  for  self-government,  and 
the  Circle  was  greatly  pleased  with  his  sturdy 
ideas  of  the  rights  of  men  and  the  educating 
power  of  freedom. 

Then  our  friend  John  read  his  essay  upon 
Solon  with  considerable  embarrassment  and  a 
few  blunders,  but  on  the  whole  extremely  well. 
Mr.  Chapman  moved  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the 
essayist  which  was  cordially  passed,  and  John 
felt  amply  rewarded  for  his  toil,  which  he 
frankly  confessed,  in  an  aside  to  Mr.  Chapman, 
had  been  greater  for  him  than  shoeing  all  the 
horses  in  San  Benito. 

Miss  Thurston  now  produced  The  Chautauquan 
for  October  and  asked  how  many  had  found 
tune  for  the  required  reading  in  the  magazine, 
to  which  she  received  rather  wavering  replies. 

"Ah,  we  must  not  neglect  our  magazine," 
she  said  briskly. 


CHAUTAUQUA    CIRCLES.  43 

"We  must  meet  oftener,  I  think,"  said 
Jennie  Brooks,  and  to  this  there  was  a  universal 
assent.  It  was  voted  to  meet  every  Friday 
evening ;  also,  at  Miss  Thurston's  suggestion,  to 
devote  the  last  Friday  of  each  month  to  a  re 
view  of  the  readings  in  The  Chautauquan.  An 
extra  meeting  was  also  planned  for  the  purpose 
of  getting  fully  caught  up  with  the  regular 
reading,  and  all  promised  double  work  for  the 
next  fortnight.  The  Primer  of  American  Lit 
erature  was  sent  for  by  all  present,  even  the 
irregular  members  and  onlookers  venturing  so 
small  an  investment  as  that,  and  the  second 
Friday  evening  in  November  was  assigned  to 
this  brief  outlook  over  the  field  of  American 
literature.  Biographical  sketches  of  various 
American  authors  were  given  out  as  themes, 
each  member  taking  one,  and  then  with  music 
and  a  little  social  talk,  during  which  Mrs.  Leib 
and  the  three  new  young  men  joined  what  the 
latter  persisted  in  calling  privately  "  the  pretty 
little  schoolma'am's  club,"  the  circle  closed  its 
second  meeting. 

Everybody    present    felt     stimulated     and 


44  KATE  THURSTON'S 

uplifted,  except  possibly  the  Chapman  baby,  who 
at  an  early  stage  of  the  proceedings  had 
dropped  off  into  profound  sleep. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

A    SHUT-IN   CIRCLE. 

As  Miss  Thurston  hurried  schoolward  on  a 
morning  soon  after  this,  one  of  her  little  pupils 
slipped  her  hand  into  that  of  the  teacher  and 
tripped  gaily  along  beside  her.  The  little  tongue 
was  very  voluble  and  soon  began  to  tell  its 
story : 

"  Oh,  Miss  Thurston,  Willie  says  he  wishes 
he  could  be  a-a-a-what  do  you  call  it  ?  " 

"  I  don't  think  I  can  guess,  Susie,  unless  you 
tell  me  some  more,"  answered  the  gentle  voice  ; 
"who  is  Willie?" 

"Why  don't  you  know  our  Willie?  Our 
Willie  goes  on  crutches — you  know  Willie.  " 

"Ah,  yes,  I  only  didn't  know  his  name,"  and 
the  gentle  voice  grew  more  sympathetic.  "  Does 
Willie  want  to  be  a  scholar?  " 

"No,"  answered  little  Susie  soberly.     "Poor 


46  KATE  THURSTON'S 

Willie  never  could  sit  still  in  school.  His  back 
won't  let  him,  you  know,  and  he  can't  walk 
very  far.  Willie  wishes — he  said  so  last  night 
when  he  saw  you  go  by — he  wishes  he  could 
be  a—" 

"Chautauquan,  is  it,  Susie?"  asked  the 
teacher. 

"  Yes,  ma'am,  that's  it — sort  of  a  school  at 
home,  ain't  it,  Miss  Thurston  ?" 

"Yes,  dearie,  that  is  just  it.  Does  Willie  love 
to  read?" 

"  Indeed  he  does,  Miss  Thurston.  He  reads 
and  reads,  lying  down  in  his  hammock  chair 
that  papa  made  for  him,  and  he  knows  lots 
more  than  other  folks,  but  then  you  know 
Willie  is  older  than  he  is  big." 

"  Yes,  Susie,  I  know  ;  I've  seen  Willie  at  the 
windows.  You  tell  him  I'll  come  to  see  him 
this  very  next  Saturday.  How  glad  we  ought 
to  be  we  can  walk  and  run,  Susie !  I  guess 
you're  a  good  little  sister  to  Willie.  You  look 
to  me  as  if  you  were.  Do  you  run  and  wait  on 
poor  brother  Willie  ?  " 

"When   he's    nice    and    good    I    do,"   said 


CHAUTAUQUA  CIRCLES.  47 

Susie  honestly.  "  Sometimes  he's  awful  cross." 

"Who  wouldn't  be,  dearie,  if  there  was  so 
much  to  be  tired  about?  How  pleasant  you 
and  I  ought  to  be  ! "  And  Miss  Thurston  and 
Susie  ran  up  the  schoolhouse  steps  as  if  on  a 
wager. 

Before  Saturday  she  received  an  application 
blank  which  a  lady  at  the  last  meeting  had 
taken  home  for  an  invalid  sister,  about  whom 
she  merely  said  that  "like  other  sick  folks  she 
got  dreadfully  tired  of  doing  nothing."  This 
blank  was  filled  out  with  a  quaint  originality : 

What  is  your  full  address  ? 

"  Miss  Sarah  Olmstead,  San  Benito.  " 

Are  you  married  or  single? 

11  Single  and  satisfied." 

What  is  your  age  ? 

"  Uncertain.     It  depends  on  how  I  feel." 

What  is  your  occupation  ? 

"  Trying  to  find  a  soft  spot  in  my  bed  where  I 
have  lain  for  twenty  years,  and  a  bright  side  to 
my  life,  which  is  more  difficult." 

With  what  religious  denomination  are  you 
connected  ? 


48  KATE  THURSTON'S 

"  The  Church  of  the  Good  Endeavor." 

Kate  Thurston  read  this  little  document  with 
care  on  Saturday  morning  as  she  made  the 
package  of  similar  applications  ready  to  send  to 
the  State  Secretary.  Then  she  went  down 
stairs  and  asked  Mrs.  Brooks  where  Miss  Olm- 
stead  lived.  That  good  lady  was  deep  in  her 
Saturday's  baking,  but  she  paused  cheerfully  to 
give  explicit  directions,  with  a  brief  biograph 
ical  sketch  of  the  poor  invalid  and  also  of  Willie 
Kellet,  the  lame  boy : 

"  Miss  Olmstead  is  kind  o'  paralyzed ;  had  a 
dreadful  sickness  in  the  States  and  took  too 
much  doctors'  stuff.  It  kind  o'  settled  in  her 
arms  and  legs.  She  lives  with  her  sister  and 
they  're  good  to  her,  as  far  as  I  know,  but  sick 
ness  is  dreadful  wearin'  to  everybody.  Miss 
Olmstead  is  pretty  cherk  generally  speakin', 
though  she  has  her  down  spells. — Yes,  do  go 
and  see  her.  I  wish  I  wasn't  so  busy  and  I'd 
go  along. 

"Willie  Kellett,  'lame  Willie'  we  all  call 
him,  he  lives  a  little  this  side  of  the  Chapmans', 
and  he's  another  unfortunate.  He's  real  smart 


CHAUTAUqUA   CIRCLES.  49 

though,  and  ingenious,  and  I  know  they'll  be 
glad  to  see  you.  Folks  are  so  busy  in  San  Benito 
we  don't  get  around  to  see  our  sick  neighbors 
half  enough.  That's  one  good  thing  about 
Chautauqua ;  we  kind  of  go  when  the  tune  comes 
instead  of  putting  it  off  and  so  we  get  acquainted 
with  each  other." 

As  Miss  Thurston  walked  briskly  along  the 
street,  which  was  more  like  a  country  road,  she 
overtook  one  of  her  pupils,  a  bright  little  boy  of 
ten,  who  was  walking  by  the  side  of  a  slender 
and  somewhat  bowed  over  woman.  A  second 
glance  showed  that  the  little  fellow  was  acting 
as  guide  to  his  companion  who  was  nearly  or 
quite  blind. 

"Hello,  Miss  Thurston,"  he  sang  out  cheerily, 
"I'm  taking  grandma  over  to  Aunt  Mary's  and 
then  I'm  going  to  see  the  fellows  play  base 
ball." 

" Good  morning,  Jimmy,"  said  the  teacher, 
hi  just  as  cheerful  a  tone,  "and  now  tell  me 
your  grandmother's  name  please." 

"  Grandma,"  said  Jimmy. 

"  Beckwith,"  added  grandma  pleasantly,  "and 


50  KATE   THURSTON'S 

you  are  Jimmy's  new  teacher,  I  reckon.  I'm 
sure  Jimmy  has  told  us  enough  about  you  to 
have  me  feel  acquainted." 

And  so  they  fell  into  easy  conversation.  Kate 
found  a  new  friend  in  this  chance  acquaintance ; 
a  wise,  patient,  thoughtful  woman,  whose  early 
lack  of  education  had  been  so  supplemented  by 
the  experience  and  discipline  of  long  life  and 
many  sorrows  that  every  line  of  her  face  told  of 
refinement  and  spiritual  culture.  Kate  walked 
slowly  beside  her,  revealing  in  every  tone  and 
guiding  movement  her  quick  warm  sympathy,  . 
yet  without  question  or  word  as  to  her  blind 
ness,  and  the  elder  woman  thanked  God  for  this 
new  sweet  voice  which  had  come  into  her 
darkened  life.  When  they  paused  at  "Aunt 
Mary's"  gate  it  was  with  promises  of  future 
walks  and  talks  together. 

"  Do  you  love  to  listen  to  reading  ?  Of  course 
you  do,"  said  Kate,  not  waiting  for  an  answer. 

"  Yes,  honey,"  she  answered  in  a  soft  Southern 
voice, -"yes,  better  than  anything.in  the  world, 
and  I  have  a  great  blessing  in  my  son,  Jimmy's 
father,  who  is  most  always  in  the  house 


CHAUTAUQUA   CIRCLES.  51 

and  a  great  reader,  especially  of  the  Scriptures." 
"  I  shall  love  to  come  to  see  you  if  you  will 
let   me,"    said    Kate   most  sincerely  as  they 
parted. 

The  home  of  the  Kelletts  was  near  by  and 
here,  as  Kate  reached  the  gate,  out  flew  Susie 
with:  "Oh,  Miss  Thurston,  we  were  watching 
for  you  and  here  you  are  ! "  Then,  drawing  her 
eagerly  in, — "Ma,  here's  Miss  Thurston  !  Willie, 
here  she  is !" 

Kate  went  forward  with  smiling  cordiality,  and 
the  poor  pale  boy,  whose  face  she  had  often  seen 
looking  out  wistfully,  put>  his  thin  hand  into 
hers  with  unwonted  freedom,  while  the  plain, 
care-worn  mother  came  forward  as  if  she  also 
felt  the  charm  of  Kate's  simple  friendliness  and 
reciprocated  it  as  best  she  could.  The  room, 
which  was  both  kitchen  and  living-room,  was 
scrupulously  clean  and  orderly,  and  the  lame 
boy  was  neat  and  attractive,  with  his  light 
brown  hair  carefully  brushed  away  from  a  broad 
white  forehead.  He  had  prominent  bright  blue 
eyes,  and  although  his  features  were  sharp  and 
thin  they  were  by  no  means  unpleasant.  His 


52  KATE  THURSTON'S 

smile  was  really  beautiful,  Kate  thought,  as  she 
led  him  on  in  a  natural  way  to  speak  of  the 
morning  sunshine  which  fell  over  him  as  he  lay 
near  the  window  in  his  home-made  reclining 
chair  ;  how  white  his  teeth  were  she  noted, 
and  how  delicate  and  aristocratic  he  looked 
among  his  brown  and  sturdy  younger  brothers, 
who  came  in  from  their  play  to  enjoy  this  morn 
ing  call  from  their  teacher.  She  saluted  each 
one  by  name  and  had  a  pleasant  word  for  each, 
but  gave  most  of  her  thoughts  and  conversation 
to  Willie.  He  was  about  eighteen,  she  judged, 
but  his  curved  spine  made  him  a  good  deal 
shorter  than  his  twelve-year-old  brother,  so  it 
seemed  very  natural  that  Kate  should  call  him 
"  Willie,"  as  they  all  did. 

He  had  laid  down  a  book  as  she  came  in,  and 
she  glanced  at  it. 

"Ah,  (  Plutarch's  Lives  !'"  she  exclaimed 
with  genuine  pleasure  ;  "  now  that's  what  I  call 
good  reading." 

"So  do  I,"  answered  Willie,  -smiling  his 
Tare  smile;  "I  like  great  men  —  to  read 
about  them,  I  mean.  Of  course  I'd  like 


CHAUTAUQUA   CIRCLES.  63 

better  to  know  them,  if  they  weren't  all  dead." 

"  Are  they  ?  "  asked  Miss  Thurston  doubtfully. 
"  I  don't  know  about  that.  Whoever  is  doing 
his  best  is  a  hero,  I  think.  There's  a  chance  for 
us  all,  you  see."  But  Willie  looked  incredulous. 

"What  a  convenient  book-rest  you  have!" 
said  Kate,  changing  the  subject  adroitly. 

"It's  Willie's  own  make,"  said  Mrs.  Kellett. 
"  He  can  do  anything  with  his  knife  and  a  piece 
of  soft  wood.  He  made  these  swinging  shelves 
for  his  books." 

"  And  this  box  forme,"  chimed  in  Susie,  run 
ning  and  bringing  out  her  treasure. 

Miss  Thurston  examined  all  with  genuine  ad 
miration.  The  work  was  symmetrical  and 
perfect,  with  a  carefulness  of  finish  which 
showed  the  true  artist. 

"Why,  we  shall  have  a  famous  wood  carver 
here  in  San  Benito  the  first  thing  we  know — a 
sculptor  maybe ! "  she  exclaimed  with  real  en 
thusiasm,  as  the  smallest  boy  brought  out  a 
little  wooden  horse,  with  spirit  and  grace  in 
every  line,  from  the  dilated  nostrils  to  the 
slender  fetlock.  "We're  not  going  to  let  any 


54  KATE   THURSTON'S 

genius  run  to  waste  here !  You  must  have  the 
right  help.  I'm  going  to  appoint  a  committee 
to  attend  to  this  business  !  And  did  a  little  bird 
tell  me  you  would  like  to  be  a  Chautauquan  ?  " 
she  added. 

"I  don't  know  about  the  bird,"  said  Willie, 
the  color  flushing  his  white  forehead,  "but  I 
should." 

"  Can't  you  have  a  sort  of  family  Circle,"  sug 
gested  Elate,  "father  and  mother  and  you?" 
And  then  she  remembered  that  the  whole 
scheme  was  new  to  her  audience  and  proceeded 
to  explain  it  fully. 

"We  can  hardly  afford  the  books,"  said  Mrs. 
Kellett  timidly,  "  and  Mr.  Kellett  comes  home 
clean  tired  out  every  night." 

"  I'm  through  with  my  Greek  history  and 
should  love  to  lend  it  to  you , "  said  Kate  earnestly, 
and  although  the  blood  ran  up  over  Willie's  fore 
head  again,  he  felt  the  household  poverty  too 
keenly  to  refuse ;  besides  Kate  gave  him  no 
chance.  "Susie  shall  go  home  with  me  and 
bring  it  right  down  and  also  The  Chautauquan 
for  October,"  she  went  on. 


GHAUTAUQUA    CIRCLES.  55 

So  it  was  settled,  and  with  kind  hand  shakings 
Kate  took  her  leave.  Willie  rose  from  his  chair 
and  came  to  the  door  to  look  after  her. 

"  She's  just  as  near  an  angel  as  they  make 
'em,"  he  said,  with  strong  emphasis. 

Kate  and  Susie  sped  along  to  Miss  Olmstead's 
abiding  place  with  her  sister,  Mrs.  Sterling.  It 
was  a  pretty,  rose  embowered  cottage  with 
geraniums  and  chrysanthemums  brightening 
the  borders  and  almost  concealing  the  inclosing 
fences.  Not  a  touch  of  frost  had  hindered  their 
riotous  growth,  and  the  brilliant  blossoms 
brought  both  Kate  and  Susie  to  a  delighted 
standstill,  when  the  door  quickly  opened  and 
Mrs.  Sterling  came  out  to  greet  them,  attired  in 
a  sweeping  cap  and  the  biggest  of  gingham 
aprons.  She  was  the  most  vigorous  of  house 
wives  and,  after  the  salutations,  opened  her 
mouth  to  pour  forth  apologies  and  explanations, 
which  unhappy  tide  Kate  stemmed  with  as 
earnest  an  overflow  of  admiration  for  the  flowers. 
When  they  went  indoors  they  were  ushered  at 
first  into  the  stiflest  of  cold  dark  parlors,  but 
afterward  when  Kate  asked  for  Miss  Olmstead, 


66  KATE   THURSTON>8 

into  an  inhabited  and  more  cheerful  dining 
room  out  of  which  opened  a  pleasant  bed  room, 
the  home  of  the  invalid,  Miss  Olmstead.  As 
soon  as  Mrs.  Sterling  would  let  them  they  went 
on  into  this  bed  room  and  were  introduced  to 
the  odd  looking  lady  who  was  imprisoned  there. 
She  was  fair  and  rather  fleshy,  with  short  curl 
ing  hair  which  gave  her  a  youthful  look,  but 
her  hands  which  lay  almost  useless  on  the 
snowy  bed  covering  looked  shrunken  and  old. 
She  greeted  them  with  quite  a  little  animation 
and  said,  "This  is  very  good  of  you,  Miss 
Thurston.  I  expect  you'll  think  I'm  a  queer 
subject  for  your  new  institution,  but  I  shan't 
hinder  anybody  if  I  can't  help.  I  never  broke 
up  a  meeting  yet ! "  Her  voice  was  singularly 
sweet,  quite  in  contrast  with  the  rasping  shrill 
ness  which  characterized  Mrs.  Sterling's,  but 
Elate  instantly  discovered  under  its  light  tone  a 
ring  of  pathetic  bravery.  Here  was  some  one 
who  was  wise  enough  to  see  that  complaining 
didn't  help  suffering.  So  Kate  answered  in  the 
same  strain :  "  You  certainly  look  very  peace 
able,  Miss  Olmstead,  but  we  are  so  glad  to  have 


CHAUTAUQUA    CIRCLES.  57 

people  become  Chautauquans  that  we  don't  ask 
for  any  guarantees  of  good  nature."  Then,  Mrs. 
Sterling  having  asked  to  be  excused,  Kate  drew 
a  chair  near  the  bedside  where  she  could  be 
seen  easily  as  well  as  heard,  which  she  intui 
tively  knew  was  the  pleasant  thing  to  do,  and 
they  fell  into  brisk  conversation. 

The  room  was  in  perfect  order  but  the  flaring 
paper  on  the  wall,  the  great  set  figures  on  the 
carpet,  the  bareness  and  dreariness  everywhere, 
were  enough  to  oppress  a  well  person,  and  Kate 
thought  with  a  shudder,  "What  if  I  were  lying 
here,  with  these  surroundings  !" 

Miss  Olmstead  meanwhile  was  watching  Miss 
Thurston's  glowing  face  and  thinking  :  "  How 
little  you  can  know  of  my  weariness  ! " 

"Do  you  sit  up  at  all?"  asked  Kate,  when 
Miss  Olmstead  alluded  again  to  her  non- 
combative  principles. 

"  Oh,  I  used  to  be  hoisted  out  into  a  rocking 
chair  once  in  a  while  years  ago,  but  it's  such  a 
fuss  and  for  so  little  while,  and  I've  taken  to 
growing  fat  and  heavy — perfectly  ridiculous  for 
an  invalid,  you  know — and  I'm  such  a  lift,  and 


68  KATE  THURSTON'S 

John — Mr.  Sterling — is  away  from  home  all  day, 
on  the  railroad,  not  even  at  home  Sundays,  and 
so  I've  got  into  the  way  of  lying  curled  up  here 
like  a  caterpillar — Ugh,  how  I  hate  the  things  ! 
One  has  made  itself  into  a  roll  outside  the 
window  there  on  the  sash." 

"  It  will  be  a  butterfly  before  long,"  said  Kate 
slowly,  laying  her  warm  hand  on  the  wasted 
one  near  her,  as  she  asked  : 

"Can  you  manage  a  book  with  any  sort  of 
comfort?" 

"  Well,  I'm  not  much  of  a  bookworm  if  I  am 
a  caterpillar,"  confessed  the  invalid.  "  A  news 
paper  or  a  magazine  sister  Ellen  sometimes 
fixes  up  against  a  pillow  and  I  manage  to  get 
the  leaves  turned  if  Ellen  is  within  call,  but 
she's  such  a  worker,  and  she  does  hate  California 
dust  so.  I  declare  I  think  she  puts  out  enough 
from  this  house  every  year  to  make  a  state  like 
Ehode  Island!" 

They  both  laughed  merrily,  but  little  Susie 
suddenly  found  her  tongue. 

"  She'd  ought  to  have  a  book-rest,  like  Willie's, 
oughtn't  she,  Miss  Thurston?" 


CHAUTAUQUA     CIRCLES.  59 

"Indeed  she  ought,  and  a  little  sister  like 
Susie  to  turn  the  leaves,"  said  Miss  Thurston. 

"I've  never  seen  such  a  thing,"  said  Miss 
Olmstead,  "  tell  me  how  it  works,  please." 

So  Kate  explained.  "  If  you  had  one,"  she 
went  on,  "  you  could  read  aloud  while  Mrs. 
Sterling  sews,  and  she  could  sit  near  enough  to 
turn  leaves." 

"Sol  could,"  said  Miss  Olmstead,  brighten 
ing.  "  I'd  he  glad  to  pay  for  one.  That's 
something  I  have  to  be  thankful  for — I  have  a 
little  income.  My  father  left  me  a  farm  in  Iowa, 
so  I  shouldn't  be  entirely  dependent,  and  it's  a 
comfort  to  pay  my  way  always.  Then  I  have  a 
little  left  over,  and  as  I'm  not  very  extravagant 
about  dress — don't  even  take  a  fashion  book  or 
care  anything  about  being  stylish — I  can  treat 
myself  to  making  a  present  once  in  a  while. 
I'll  make  myself  a  present  this  time,  and  not 
wait  for  Christmas  either." 

"  The  very  thing,"  cried  Kate  joyfully.  "And 
did  you  never  hear  about  a  machine  for  lifting 
sick  people, — a  couple  of  rings  firmly  fastened 
in  the  ceiling  and  then  a  system  of  pulleys  and 


60  KATE   THURSTON' 8 

ropes  so  that  one  could  be  swung  in  a  stout 
sheet  or  blanket  into  an  upright  position  and 
out  of  bed  to  an  easy  chair  ?  There  is  such  an 
arrangement,  Miss  Olmstead,  and  you  must 
surely  have  it.  I'll  find  out  all  about  it  and  re 
port  in  a  fortnight." 

And  now  the  whistles  began  to  blow  for  noon 
and  Mrs.  Sterling  came  in  to  urge  the  visitors  to 
stay  to  lunch,  but  Miss  Thurston  felt  she  must 
not  disappoint  Mrs.  Brooks,  who  always  made 
an  extra  effort  on  Saturday  noon  in  her  favorite 
boarder's  behalf,  so  with  cordial  leave-takings 
she  and  Susie  departed.  As  they  hurried  home 
ward  Miss  Thurston  said,  "Now,  Susie  tell 
Willie  to  make  the  very  nicest  book-rest  he  can. 
Make  it  of  red  wood  and  polish  it  just  like  his 
own,  and  he  can  pay  for  his  Chautauqua  books, 
don't  you  see?" 

Susie  chattered  and  chattered  till  they  reached 
Mrs.  Brooks'  house,  without  winning  quite  as 
many  replies  as  usual  from  her  teacher,  who 
seemed  unusually  busy  with  her  own  thoughts. 
She  was  saying  to  herself:  "How  wonder 
fully  things  seem  to  match  in  this  world! 


CHAUTAUQUA  CIRCLES.  61 

Who  can  believe  there   is   any   hap-hazard?" 

She  ran  up  to  her  room  for  the  history  and 
The  Chautauquan  and  gave  them  into  Susie's 
hands.  "  Now  open  your  mouth  and  shut  your 
eyes,"  she  said,  dropping  a  chocolate  cream  into 
Susie's  clean  little  red  lips,  "and  don't  forget 
about  the  book-rest." 

"  No  indeed,"  said  Susie,  and  she  didn't. 

A  week  later  the  young  President  of  the 
Chautauquans  kept  her  promise  to  blind  Mrs. 
Beckwith.  She  set  out  early  in  the  short 
November  afternoon  and  dropped  in  a  moment 
to  see  Willie  Kellett  whom  she  found  alone  and 
whittling  the  beautiful  book-rest  with  a  zeal  that 
made  bright  red  spots  in  his  pale  cheeks. 

"  Ah,  Willie,"  she  said,  "  don't  make  that  too 
fine  or  it  will  be  worth  more  than  the  Chautau- 
qua  books.  And  how  goes  on  the  Kellett 
Chautauqua  Circle  with  the  Greek  history?" 

"Splendid,"  answered  Willie;  "I've  read  it 
all  through,  and  father  and  mother  are  pretty 
well  along.  Father  reads  it  aloud  and  mother 
and  the  boys  listen.  Tom  and  Henry  like  it 
too ;  and  the  magazine  is  fine." 


62  KATE  THURSTON'S 

"  Bravo  ! "  cried  Kate.  "  I'll  be  in  again  in  a 
day  or  two.  Good-by." 

At  the  Beckwith's  Miss  Thurston  found  a 
cordial  greeting.  The  family  consisted  of  father 
and  mother,  two  daughters  who  were  at  the 
State  Normal  School  in  San  Jos£,  a  boy  of  four 
teen  who  was  one  of  Kate's  pupils,  "  Jimmy," 
the  youngest  of  the  household,  and  "Grandma 
Beck  with,"  as  she  was  universally  known.  The 
boys,  as  grandma  said  on  her  first  introduction, 
had  not  failed  to  sound  the  praises  of  the  new 
teacher  and  grandma,  too,  had  told  of  her 
morning  acquaintance. 

Mr.  Beckwith  was  a  mild-mannered  man  of 
slow  speech  and  Southern  accent,  a  Tennesseean 
it  proved,  as  the  conversation  went  on,  while 
Mrs.  Beckwith  was  a  Missourian  of  large  figure 
and  forcible  style.  The  family  living  room  was 
large  and  pleasant  with  an  open  fire  burning  in 
a  big  old-fashioned  fire-place,  though  the  after 
noon  was  warm.  Then  Kate  noticed  that  the 
father  was  rheumatic  and .  could  hardly  rise 
from  his  chair,  so  that  he  seemed  almost  as  old 
and  infirm  as  his  blind  mother.  Between  the 


OHAUTAUQUA   CIRCLES.  63 

two  there  seemed  an  unusual  bond  of  sympathy 
which  showed  in  a  thousand  small  ways  that 
the  quick  eye  of  the  visitor  discerned.  It  was 
also  just  as  evident  that  Mrs.  Beckwith's  care  of 
the  two  was  more  vigorous  than  tender.  She 
spoke  of  them  as  "  maw  "  and  "  paw,"  explained 
their  ailments  with  painful  minuteness,  and 
administered  medicine  to  "  paw  "  with  slightly 
ostentatious  manner  and  much  shaking  of  the 
bottle.  Finally  she  apologized  for  the  rather 
careless  look  of  the  room  by  saying  that  she 
could  hardly  ever  get  a  chance  to  "  red  up  "  the 
house  with  two  folks  set  tin'  'round  in  the  way 
all  the  time. 

Kate  came  to  the  rescue  with  quick^kindliness  : 
"You  remind  me  of  my  own  dear  father,  Mr. 
Beckwith,"  she  said;  "  he  too  was  a  good  deal  of 
an  in-door  man  for  a  long  time  from  an  accident ; 
we  thought  we  could  not  keep  house  without 
his  big  easy-chair.  We  wheeled  it  where  ever 
we  were  at  work.  I  hope  you  are  not  always  a 
prisoner." 

"No,"  said  Mr.  Beckwith,  "I  have  a  pretty 
bad  spell  every  fall  and  sometimes  again  in  the 


64  KATE  THURSTON'S 

spring,  but  often  I  git  around  quite  spry." 
"There's  one  good  thing  that  comes  with  my 
son's  sick  spells,"  said  grandma,  "he  reads 
aloud  ever  so  much  to  me  and  it  helps  him  to 
forget  his  pains,  and  me  to  forget — "  she  hesi 
tated — "  how  long  the  days  are." 

Kate  had  noted  when  she  first  came  in  an 
open  Bible  on  a  stand  near  Mr.  Beckwith,  and 
had  thought,  "Here  is  the  secret  of  the 
refinement  and  gentle  speech  of  mother  and 
son,"  and  now  she  said  warmly,  "  I  see  Mr. 
Beckwith  knows  where  to  find  the  best  of 
reading." 

"Paw  was  a  preacher  back  in  the  States,  in 
Tennessee,"  explained  Mrs.  Beckwith,  "a 
Baptist  preacher ;  not  reg'lar,  but  kind  of 
occasional ;  he  held  meetin's  in  schoolhouses 
and  'tended  funerals.  He's  done  a  powerful 
sight  of  good,"  and  she  looked  quite  wifely  in 
her  pride  and  appreciation.  Kate  felt  drawn 
toward  her  for  the  first  time,  and  responded 
quickly  with:  "I  can  well  believe  it,  Mrs. 
Beckwith,  and  I  think  he  isn't  through  with 
doing  good  by  any  means.  I  think  there  are  a 


CHAUTAUQUA   CIRCLES.  65 

good  many  families  who  would  be  thankful  for 
somebody  to  read  aloud  to  them." 

"  It's  the  blessing  of  my  life,"  said  grandma 
fervently. 

"Paw's  a  lee  tie  too  much  interested  in  the 
prophecies  to  suit  me,"  said  Mrs.  Beckwith  with 
honest  frankness.  "  If  we  could  kind  o'  have  a 
change  from  Job  and  Dan'l  and  Ezek'l  I'd 
think  more  of  the  readin'  and  expoundin'.  I 
git  all  beat  out,  as  it  is." 

Before  Kate  had  time  to  recover  from  this  Mr. 
Beckwith  turned  toward  her,  his  face  quite 
aglow  with  animation  and  entirely  unmindful 
of  his  wife's  criticisms  : 

"  Did  you  ever  read  the  prophecies  of  Job  in 
the  light  of  science  and  discovery,  Miss  Thurs- 
ton  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  No,  I  don't  know  that  I  have,"  sheanswered. 

"Well,  I'd  like  to  show  you  how  he  prophe 
sied  about  the  steam  engine,"  he  said  excitedly, 
as  he  turned  the  leaves  of  the  Bible  till  he  came 
to  the  mystical  description. 

Poor  Kate  was  doomed.  The  enthusiast  was 
fairly  started  and  on  he  went.  Fortunately  he 


66  KATE  THURSTON'S 

did  not  demand  much  assent,  and  Kate's  "  ahs  " 
and  "  indeeds  "  and  "  do  you  think  so's  "  seemed 
entirely  satisfactory.  The  argument  with  much 
digressive  illustration  proceeded.  It  took  half 
an  hour  to  reach  the  stackpipe,  another  before 
the  prophetic  engine  was,  so  to  speak,  ready  to 
have  the  fire  started.  Kate's  one  thought  most 
of  the  time  had  been  how  to  switch  this  engine 
off  the  track.  She  had  taken  pleasure  solely  in 
one  thing,  the  absorbed  attention  of  the  blind 
mother  who  kept  her  face  turned  toward  her 
son  with  affection  and  devoted  faith  in  every 
feature.  Kate  knew  that  nothing  is  more  cor 
rective  to  hobby  riding  than  the  introduction  of 
a  new  steed,  and  she  made  haste  to  trot  out  her 
beloved  Chautauqua. 

"  Oh,  Mr.  Beckwith,"  she  said,  "you  are  so 
interested  in  history  and  science,  have  you 
heard  about  our  new  society  for  studying  these 
things?  No?  Do  let  me  tell  you  about  it." 
And  now  it  was  her  turn  to  be  eloquent ;  so 
much  so  that  all  three  of  her  auditors  were  con 
verted.  All  were  more  than  pleased,  Mr.  Beck 
with  and  his  mother  with  real  intellectual 


CHAUTAUqUA   CIRCLES.  67 

anticipation,  and  the  wife  hopeful  of  a  re 
prieve  from  the  excess  of  prophetic  explanation. 
They  were  people  of  comfortable  means, 
owing  to  a  fortunate  investment  in  real  estate, 
and  Kate  felt  sure  they  would  have  the 
leisure  and  the  interest  to  make  good  Chautau- 
quans. 

"Of  course  we  can't  get  out  to  attend  any 
meetings,"  said  Mrs.  Beckwith,  "we're  such  a 
poor  helpless  lot." 

"Nevermind  that,"  said  Kate  cheerily,  "be 
a  '  Home  Circle ' ;  that's  one  of  the  very  best 
kind.  I'll  send  you  applications  by  Jimmy  on 
Monday."  And  she  hurried  away  just  to  look 
in  one  minute  at  Miss  Olmstead  before  going 
home.  She  found  her  in  rather  a  forlorn  mood, 
but  Kate  cheered  her  with  talk  of  the  book-rest 
which  would  be  done  in  a  day  or  two  and  which 
could  stand  by  the  bed  and  be  lowered  or  raised 
at  pleasure,  or  it  could  be  unscrewed  and  only 
the  top  part  used,  placing  it  in  any  position  on 
the  bed.  "  You  can  hold  a  long  paper  knife  in 
your  right  hand  and  manage  to  turn  the  leaves 
without  raising  your  arm,"  said  Kate  suddenly, 


68  KATE   THURSTON'S 

"  I  do  believe  you  can.  I  notice  you  can  hold 
a  fan." 

Tears  sprang  up  in  the  poor  woman's  eyes. 
"How  you  do  think  of  things  ! "  she  exclaimed. 
"  Now,  Ellen  and  I  haven't  any '  gumption,'  and 
we  had  kind  of  given  up.11 

"  Never  do  that,  whatever  happens,"  said 
Kate,  with  warning,  uplifted  finger,  "but  we're 
going  to  have  you  up,  and  in  a  wheeled  chair, 
and  out  of  this  room  ! " 

"  My  occupation  will  be  gone  then,"  said  Miss 
Olmstead  with  mock  solemnity.  "For  years 
and  years  I've  counted  the  bouquets  on  this  wall 
—just  nine  hundred  and  seventy-two  there  are 
— and  then  the  buds,  and  then  the  leaves, — Oh 
my  !  Oh  my  !  What  do  you  suppose  I'd  do  in 
another  room?  " 

"  Well,  you'll  feel  like  a  butterfly  instead  of  a 
caterpillar,"  said  Kate,  "  and  you're  going  to  be 
the  very  life  and  soul  and  center  of  the  '  Shut- 
in  Chautauqua  Circle  ! '  It  has  all  come  to  me 
in  a  minute.  Every  month  at  least,  Willie 
Kellett  and  his  mother  shall  be  brought  down 
here,  and  Mr.  Beckwith  and  grandma  shall 


CHAUTAUqUA    CIRCLES.  69 

come  too  whenever  his  rheumatism  will  let  him, 
and  Mrs.  Beckwith  will  come  and  take  care  of 
you  all  and  prescribe  for  you,  and  I'll  look  in 
(it  shall  be  on  Saturday  afternoons  from  two  to 
four)  so,  as  I  said,  I'll  look  in  and  help  keep  the 
ball  rolling,  and  report  the  big  Circle  and  its 
doings,  for  your  criticism.  I  foresee  this  is  going 
to  be  a  very  select,  recherche  affair  and  we  shall 
stand  in  terrible  awe  of  you  !  I  can  think  of 
ever  so  many  things  more  but  I'll  stop  because 
I'm  out  of  breath  and  it's  growing  dark.  Now 
good-by,  and  see  if  all  this  doesn't  come  true." 

"  Heaven  bless  you  for  a  bird  of  good  omen  ! " 
said  Miss  Olmstead. 

As  Kate  wended  home,  her  busy  heart,  always 
"at  leisure  from  itself,"  built  innumerable  airy 
castles  to  house  her  new  ideas,  and,  as  time 
proved,  far  more  of  these  ephemeral  structures 
stood  the  test  of  wind  and  weather  than  is 
generally  the  case. 

The  book-rest  was  a  great  success,  and  the 
long  delicate  leaf-turner  which  accompanied  it 
worked  admirably.  The  "Elevator,"  as  Miss 
Ohnstead  named  her  friend  of  the  ropes  and 


70  KATE  THURSTON'S 

pulleys,  did  all  that  Miss  Thurston  had 
promised,  and  enabled  the  poor  lady  to  desert 
the  ranks  of  the  wholly  bedridden.  By  hus 
banding  her  strength  she  found  that  she  could 
hold  the  monthly  reception  which  Miss  Thurs 
ton  had  predicted.  The  Beckwiths  got  out  their 
comfortable  low  phaeton  and  drove  to  this  after 
noon  meeting,  picking  up  Willie  on  the  way. 
Two  or  three  more  "shut-in"  people  heard  of 
this  novel  Circle  and  on  application  were  made 
very  welcome.  One  of  these  was  a  maiden  lady 
who  had  greatly  "  enjoyed  poor  health,"  and  to 
whom  it  proved  a  real  benefit  to  have  a  new 
subject  of  thought.  Before  the  first  of  January 
Mrs.  Beckwith  drew  Miss  Thurston  aside  and 
told  her  that  she'd  had  a  blessed  rest  from  them 
Hebrew  prophets  for  three  whole  weeks  ! 

Kate  wrote  a  long  letter  to  her  father  at 
Christmas  telling  him  all  about  it :  "I  believe 
it  is  the  best  thing  I  ever  did,  papa  dear,"  she 
wrote  at  the  close,  "and  I  never  should  have 
done  it  in  the  world  if  I  had  not  loved  you  so, 
and  learned  so  many  lessons  of  sympathy  be 
side  your  dear  wheeled  chair.  You  are  the  real 


CHAUTAUqUA     CIRCLES.  71 

inspirer  of  my  lovely  'Shut-in  Chautauqua 
Circle,'  and  often,  papa,  it  seems  to  me  it 
almost  pays  to  be  a  '  Shut-in  '—it  lifts  one  so 
above  one's  environment." 


CHAPTEE  V. 

A  CHAUTAUQTTA  "BOOM  "  ANI>  A  SET-BACK. 

BY  the  last  of  November  the  San  Benito  Circle 
had  caught  up  with  the  rest  of  the  Chautauqua 
world,  and  had  that  brisk  and  confident  air 
which  people  always  have  who  are  abreast  of 
the  times.  The  meeting  devoted  to  American 
literature  had  been  by  far  the  most  brilliant  and 
successful  of  all  the  meetings  yet  held.  It  was 
a  subject  about  which  everybody  had  a  little 
knowledge  and  a  great  deal  of  interest.  The 
sketches  of  Longfellow,  Holmes,  Whittier,  and 
Lowell  were  so  good,  Miss  Thurston's  essay 
upon  early  American  literature  was  so  graphic 
and  well  illustrated,  and  Mrs.  Fiske's  paper 
upon  Emerson  so  fine,  that  the  critical  Mr. 
Fiske  got  upon  his  feet  and  congratulated  the 
Circle  upon  its  literary  ability,  and  Mrs.  Chap 
man  moved  that  the  Circle  keep  the  Chautauqua 


CHAUTAUQUA    CIRCLES.  73 

"  Memorial  Days  "  by  giving  public  entertain 
ments  when  these  articles  could  be  amplified 
and  reproduced.  This  was  unanimously  carried, 
and  a  "Bryant  Day"  was  arranged  for  the 
early  part  of  December,  since  the  regular  day 
had  already  passed.  The  evening  program 
was  admirably  arranged  with  essays  and  recita 
tions  brightened  by  some  charming  music,  and 
San  Benito  gave  the  Circle  an  excellent 
audience  and  much  appreciation. 

Now  set  in  a  real  Chautauqua  "boom." 
Everybody  in  San  Benito  had  heard  of  the 
Circle  and  its  wonderful  doings.  The  weekly 
San  Benito  Star  had  a  column  on  its  local  page 
with  display  headings  and  lavish  rhetoric  about 
"Our  Chautauqua  Circle,"  which  it  averred  was 
patronized  by  all  the  literati  in  town.  The 
editor  and  the  compositor  both  joined  the  Circle 
and  proved  valuable  additions.  It  resulted  in 
much  free  advertising  of  the  proceedings. 

No  parlor  but  Mrs.  Fiske's  would  hold  the 
ever-growing  Circle,  so  it  was  decided  to  meet 
in  the  schoolhouse.  Old  people  and  young 
people  nocked  to  the  meetings  and  Mrs.  Fiske 


74  KATE   THURSTON'S 

was  kept  busy  sending  off  applications.  Some 
of  these  new  members  joined  from  genuine  de 
sire  to  "  improve  their  minds,"  as  the  good  old 
phrase  expresses  it.  Others  thought  it  was  a 
new-fangled  mode  of  becoming  learned  without 
much  effort,  and  this  met  a  long  felt  want. 
Others  still  joined  because  it  was  the  fashion. 
There  were  a  few  young  gentlemen  who  affirmed 
boldly  that  they  joined  because  there  were  so 
many  "  nice"  girls  in  it,  and  it  really  looked  as 
if  several  young  women  joined  in  order  to  meet 
these  same  young  men.  The  President  would 
have  been  quite  overwhelmed  by  her  responsi 
bilities  if  she  had  not  had  such  excellent  helpers. 
Mrs.  Fiske  was  like  a  sister  to  her  and  between 
them  they  devised  the  scheme  of  having  a  new 
teacher  for  each  new  book.  They  also  branched 
off  a  little  from  the  prescribed  course  and  took 
the  "Preparatory  Greek  Course  in  English" 
of  the  preceding  year,  feeling  that  it  fitted 
in  with  the  history  too  well  to  be  omitted. 
Miss  Thurston  having  been  over  the  book 
a  year  previous  was  able  to  lead  them 
through  it  with  great  ease,  and  Homer  and 


CHAUTAUQUA   CIRCLES.  75 

Xenophon  became    household   words  in   San 
Benito. 

But  when  Dr.  Hall  consented  to  be  Superin 
tendent  during  the  reading  of  Dr.  Wythe's 
"Vegetable  Biology"  it  was  directly  seen  that 
there  would  be  no  falling  off  in  the  method  of 
teaching.  The  study  was  right  in  his  favorite 
line  of  work.  He  had  a  microscope  of  rare  ex 
cellence  and  was  an  enthusiastic  microscopist. 
He  could  also  use  the  blackboard  well,  and  as 
the  class  watched  his  quick  crayon  work  or 
looked  through  his  microscope  at  his  carefully 
prepared  specimens  illustrative  of  their  subject 
of  study,  there  was  if  anything  an  increase  of 
interest  and  appreciation.  Miss  Thurston  had 
secretly  dreaded  this  book  more  than  any  other 
in  the  course,  knowing  very  little  of  the  subject 
herself,  and  fearing  that  others  would  find  it 
hopelessly  dull  and  difficult,  but  all  her  fears 
vanished  before  Dr.  Hall's  first  clear,  scholarly 
presentation  of  the  subject.  The  young  women 
of  the  Circle  became  especially  devoted  to 
amoeba,  and  more  than  one  was  seen  during 
the  very  wet  month  of  January  peering  and 


76  KATE  THURSTON'S 

poking  into  wayside  pools  in  search  of  infusoria 
and  other  objects  which  would  surely  have  been 
quite  disgusting  to  her  save  for  the  new  interest 
in  biology  developed  by  the  attractive  young 
professor.  It  was  truly  wonderful  how  well 
those  lessons  were  learned  and  how  the  scien 
tific  mania  spread  among  the  fair  daughters  of 
San  Benito. 

If  Dr.  Hall  was  an  inspiration  to  the  Circle  in 
January,  Mr.  Chapman  was  ready  to  be  no  leas 
helpful  and  capable  in  February  when  they 
took  hold  of  that  unrivaled  book,  "  The  Philoso 
phy  of  the  Plan  of  Salvation."  It  was  the  first 
religious  book  which  they  had  studied  together 
and  many  looked  at  it  with  dread  if  not  aversion, 
for  strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  subject  which 
should  be  of  supreme  importance  was  the  one  in 
San  Benito  least  thought  of,  least  understood, 
and  least  appreciated. 

It  followed  that  there  was  a  perceptible  falling 
off  in  the  attendance  of  the  Circle.  The  irregular 
members  disappeared  en  masse  and  of  the 
regular  members  there  was  a  conspicuous  failure 
to  appear.  The  young  men  especially,  stayed 


CHAUTAUQUA   CIRCLES.  77 

away  except  two  or  three.  Yet  Mr.  Chapman 
had  planned  the  work  with  great  care.  Topics 
had  been  carefully  distributed  to  call  out  indi 
vidual  thought,  and  not  only  early  Hebrew  but 
Egyptian  and  Assyrian  history  had  been  con 
sidered  as  throwing  light  on  the  subject  in  hand. 
Mr.  Chapman's  own  preparation  had  been 
thorough  and  he  was  a  bright  and  thoughtful 
man,  yet  it  was  painfully  evident  that  only  a 
few  intended  to  put  themselves  in  the  way  of 
grasping  the  fine,  strong,  logical  reasoning  of  the 
book,  embodied  in  language  always  worthy  of 
the  theme, — the  most  scholarly  religious  argu 
ment  since  the  days  of  Bishop  Butler  and  his 
immortal  "Analogy." 

Everything  had  hitherto  gone  prosperously 
with  the  Circle.  The  timid  members  had  grown 
quite  courageous  and  several  of  them  had  sur 
prised  both  their  neighbors  and  themselves  with 
then*  capabilities.  The  musical  talent  of  the 
Circle  had  multiplied  with  its  growth,  and  not 
only  the  Chautauqua  songs  were  rendered  with 
spirit  and  enthusiasm,  but  every  meeting  was 
enlivened  by  some  pleasant  solo  or  duet,  for 


78  KATE  THURSTON'S 

which  the  little  school  organ  furnished  a  pass 
able  accompaniment.  There  were  several  who 
read  and  recited  well,  and  Miss  Thurston  had 
also  brought  in  some  of  her  older  pupils  for 
special  recitations.  She  had  herself  taken 
charge  of  the  evenings  devoted  to  The  Chautau- 
quan  and  had  succeeded  in  making  them  equal 
to  any  in  interest.  The  holiday  season  had 
come  and  gone  and  occasioned  only  a  brief  inter- 
(nission  in  the  meetings,  and  January  with  its 
rains  had  been  bravely  met  and  conquered  by 
Dr.  Hall  and  his  disciples.  Lone  women  had 
lighted  their  lanterns  and  trudged  along  the 
black  country  roads  on  the  darkest  nights  to 
attend  their  beloved  "Chautauqua,"  until  the 
dauntlessness  of  "Chautauqua  women"  had 
become  proverbial.  Traveling  shows  and  peri 
patetic  lecturers  and  musicians  had  learned  not 
to  come  to  San  Benito  hoping  to  get  an  audience 
from  the  "upper  circles"  on  Friday  nights. 
Even  the  irrepressible  young  folks  had  their 
parties  and  candy  pulls  on  some  other  evening. 
Nothing  had  really  gone  counter  to  the  triumph 
ant  progress  of  the  movement  until  now  there 


CHAUTAUQUA  CIRCLES.  79 

was  this  ominous  decline.  Poor  Kate  carried 
rather  a  sad  and  heavy  heart  up  into  her  little 
room  after  the  first  meeting  in  February.  Her 
school  work  had  been  hard  all  the  winter  on 
account  of  the  large  number  and  great  variety 
in  ages  of  her  pupils,  but  the  Chautauqua  Circle 
had  been  a  delightful  change  and  rest.  Now  if 
this  was  going  to  drag !  She  sat  down  and 
thought  it  over  in  her  usual  way.  It  must  not 
be  so,  she  decided,  if  for  no  other  reason  than  to 
save  the  good  minister's  feelings ;  but,  chiefest 
of  all,  because  the  very  members  of  the  Circle 
who  needed  to  know  more  of  the  Bible  and  its 
claims  were  those  who  were  now  absenting 
themselves  from  the  meetings.  A  plan  seemed 
to  suggest  itself  to  her  for  she  soon  laid  her 
tired  head  upon  her  pillow  and  went  peacefully 
to  sleep. 

The  next  day  was  Saturday  and  the  gentle 
California  rain  was  descending  with  a  quiet 
persistence  highly  pleasing  to  agriculturists,  but 
Kate  Thurston  never  let  a  California  rain  inter 
fere  with  her  plans.  She  was  born  in  Maine  f 

Equipped  with  gossamer  waterproof,  rubbers 


80  KATE  THURSTON'8 

and  umbrella,  she  sallied  forth  directly  after 
breakfast  and  went  to  her  friend  Mrs.  Fiske. 

"Why,  Katie,  what  in  the  world  brings  you 
out  this  morning?"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Fiske  as 
she  greeted  her  at  the  door,  having  caught  sight 
of  her  through  the  windows  and  rushed  to  wel 
come  her. 

"Oh,  just  'she  talks  away,'  as  little  Tom 
Towner  calls  it,"  answered  Kate,  as  she  shed 
her  dripping  wraps  in  the  porch. 

"Well,  come  in  thou  stormy  petrel  and  visit 
this  croaking  raven,"  said  Mrs.  Fiske  hoarsely 
hut  gaily, 'and  she  made  haste  to  explain  how 
she  had  not  been  out  herself  on  the  previous 
evening  because  she  was  fighting  with  aconite 
and  belladonna  the  prevailing  influenza. 

Kate  sat  down  in  a  luxuriant  sleepy  hollow 
chair  by  the  cozy  fireside  and  told  her  troubles 
first  and  then  her  conclusion. 

"  We  women  must '  make  an  effort,'  like  the 
renowned  Mrs.  Chick.  We  can  persuade  these 
young  men  to  come  back  if  we  go  to  them  per 
sonally.  I'll  take  care  of  certain  ones,  and  I 
have  in  my  mind  the  right  girls  to  look  after 


CHAUTAUQUA    CIRCLES.  81 

certain  others,  but,  dear  Mrs.  Fiske,  you  must 
see  Dr.  Hall,"  and  the  bright  color  ran  up  over 
her  face  as  she  went  earnestly  on :  "I  have 
been  so  sorry  in  the  last  month  to  find  that 
while  he  studies  nature  with  such  infinite 
pleasure  he  does  not  seem  to  go  higher  than 
nature." 

"I'm  not  so  sure  that  I  am  the  right  one," 
said  Mrs.  Fiske,  "  and  you  see  I'm  a  prisoner, 
but  I'll  promise  to  do  the  best  I  can.  You  are 
an  irresistible  girl,"  she  added,  as  Kate  rose  to 
go,  "but  don't  stay  out  in  the  rain  any  longer 
to-day.  Go  home  and  let  Providence  take  care 
of  things." 

But  Kate  had  a  way  of  helping  Providence. 
Her  next  stopping  place  was  at  Colonel  Dobson's, 
whom  she  found  at  home  and  in  his  most 
amiable  mood.  He  had  fallen  out  of  the  Circle, 
much  as  he  liked  to  lead  a  popular  movement, 
because  some  of  the  young  men  who  joined  the 
class  in  November  had  an  unpleasant  way  of 
calling  him  out  on  points  of  which  he  was  pro 
foundly  ignorant,  just  to  hear  him  stammer  and 
see  him  grow  red  in  the  face.  But  now  he  felt 


82  KATE   THURSTON' S 

immensely  flattered  to  have  Miss  Thurston 
coming  after  him  as  if  he  were  such  a  conse 
quential  person  that  he  couldn't  be  spared,  and 
he  promised  her  that  he  would  be  on  hand  after 
this  and  he  would  also  look  up  certain  others 
and  bring  them  to  the  next  meeting. 

The  Colonel  had  ushered  Miss  Thurston  into 

i 
the  family  room  where  for  the  first  time  she 

met  Mrs.  Dobson,  who  was  quite  an  invalid  and 
a  much  overshadowed  individual.  Kate  had 
such  ready  sympathy  that  the  call  was  prolonged 
into  a  friendly  visit  and  Mrs.  Dobson's  name 
was  added  before  Kate  left,  to  the  growing  list 
of  the  "  Bhut-in  Circle." 

The  zealous  little  President  next  pursued  her 
way  to  Mrs.  Chapman's  where  she  brightened 
the  somewhat  discouraged  minister  and  his  wife 
with  her  honest  praise  of  their  helpfulness  to 
the  Circle. 

"Do  not  think  of  this  little  declension,"  she 
urged  ;  "  it  is  nothing  but  the  seriousness  of  the 
subject  which  has  driven  away  some  of  our 
friends.  I  am  sure  we  can  win  them  back." 

"You  know  Dr.  Hall  has  no  settled  religious 


CHAUTAUQUA    CIRCLES.  83 

belief,"  Mr.  Chapman  said,  "  and  his  influence 
is  great.  We  can  hardly  expect  him  to  come 
and  that  will  deter  others," 

"It  is  a  great  pity,"  said  Kate  regretfully, 
"  but  of  course  I  cannot  speak  to  him, — probably 
no  one  here  could  have  much  influence  with 
him." 

She  did  not  see  the  glance  exchanged  between 
the  minister  and  his  wife,  so  her  blushes  were 
spared. 

Her  next  calling  place  was  the  Towners'  pretty 
home,  and  here  she  found  cordial  allies.  Flora 
and  Lizzie  were  good  girls,  not  overstocked  with 
talent  or  learning,  but  pretty  enough  to  be 
charming,  and  with  right  ideas  in  all  essential 
things.  They  were  general  favorites  in  San 
Benito,  so  when  they  promised  Miss  Kate  that 
they  would  see  their  cousin  who  was  one  of  the 
delinquents,  and  a  certain  other  young  man 
who  was  well  known  to  be  Miss  Flora's  humble 
servant,  it  was  morally  certain  that  these  youths 
would  appear  at  the  next  meeting. 

It  was  nearly  noon  when  Kate  turned  her 
steps  homeward.  She  had  not  gone  far  when  a 


84  KATE  THURSTON'S 

quick  step  came  up  behind  her  and  a  pleasant 
manly  voice  bade  her  good  morning  in  a  way 
that  sounded  very  cheery,  adding  :  "  Can't  we 
make  one  umbrella  do  for  two?  I'm  going  on 
beyond  Mrs.  Brooks'  a  little  way." 

So  almost  before  Kate  knew  it  she  was  walk 
ing  beside  Dr.  Hall,  relieved  of  her  umbrella,  and 
with  nothing  to  do  but  to  pick  her  way  along 
the  sloppy  sidewalk  and  think  how  she  could  say 
to  him  what  was  uppermost  in  her  heart.  She 
had  been  helping  Providence  this  morning, 
now  Providence  was  evidently  helping  her ! 

She  listened  for  a  few  moments  to  his  merry 
comments  on  California  weather  and  San  Ben- 
ito  sidewalks,  and  joined  in  laughter  over  their 
unavailing  efforts  to  keep  side  by  side.  Then 
she  made  a  brave  venture  : 

"  You  were  not  at  our  Circle  last  night." 

"  No,  I'm  full  of  other  work  just  now,"  he 
replied. 

"Ah,  that  was  the  reason,  was  it?"  she 
asked  with  genuine  relief.  "I  feared  you  did 
not  feel  so  much  interest  in  the  subject  of  our 
study." 


CHAUTAUQUA  CIRCLES.  85 

"Well,  I  don't,"  he  answered  frankly.  "I 
like  to  study  things  I  can  see  and  understand. 
About  these  religious  matters  I  confess  I'm  an 
agnostic." 

"  You  have  of  course  given  them  a  great  deal 
of  thought  before  abandoning  them,"  she  said 
quietly,  as  if  this  were  a  foregone  conclusion. 

"  No,  I  can  hardly  say  that,"  he  confessed. 

She  let  him  make  his  own  inference,  and  after 
a  little  silence  talked  of  other  things,  but  as  they 
parted  at  Mrs.  Brooks'  door  she  said  very 
earnestly:  "I  hope  you  will  read  this  little 

* 

book  which  the  Circle  is  taking  up.    It  is  no 
common  book,  I  assure  you." 

"  I  will  surely  read  whatever  you  recommend, ' ' 
he  answered  gallantly,  standing  on  the  lower 
steps  of  the  little  porch  and  looking  up  at  her 
with  evident  admiration.  The  rain  curled  her 
hair  in  soft,  moist  rings  about  her  forehead. 
Her  eyes  were  clear  and  honest.  All  the  lines 
of  her  face  told  of  refined  thought  and  womanly 
sweetness.  Her  cheeks  flushed  with  her  walk 
and  with  the  excitement  of  this  little  encounter, 
were  just  the  color  of  the  Hermosa  roses  which 


86  KATE   THURSTON'/S 

hung  in  heavy  clusters  above  her  head,  and  Dr. 
Hall's  words  were  no  empty  compliment.  In 
the  depth  of  his  heart  he  thought,  "Here  is  a 
woman  worth  pleasing,"  and  he  went  that  very 
afternoon  into  San  Benito's  one  little  book  store 
and  bought  "The  Philosophy  of  the  Plan  of 
Salvation." 

When  the  clock  in  his  office  struck  twelve 
that  night  he  was  still  diligently  reading  it. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

WOMANLY  WISDOM. 

THE  indefatigable  young  teacher  made  her 
Saturday  afternoon's  work  as  effectual  as  her 
morning's  had  been,  and  before  the  next  meet 
ing  of  the  Circle  had  seen  each  lady  member 
and  pressed  her  into  the  service.  The  conse 
quence  was  that  all  the  powers  of  feminine 
persuasiveness  were  brought  to  bear  upon  the 
young  men  of  San  Benito,  and  when  Mr.  Chap 
man  took  his  place  at  the  teacher's  desk  on  the 
second  Friday  evening  of  February  he  was 
greeted  by  a  full  house.  It  had  been  made  one 
of  the  standing  rules  of  the  society  to  respond  to 
the  roll  call  with  a  brief  quotation  upon  the 
subject  in  hand,  and  texts  of  Scripture 
illustrating  the  Moral  Law  were  selected  as  the 
proper  quotations  for  this  week.  It  is  safe  to 
say  a  good  many  people  in  San  Benito 


88  KATE   THURtSTON'S 

committed  to  memory  a  Bible  text  that  week 
who  had  not  done  such  a  thing  for  years. 

The  irresistible  logic  of  the  little  book  they 
were  studying  had  its  legitimate  effect.  It 
arrested  attention,  stimulated  thought,  con 
firmed  faith,  answered  doubts,  cleared  up 
mysteries,  and  gave  to  every  candid  mind  en 
lightenment.  It  resulted  in  the  formation  of  a 
large  Bible  class  which  met  every  Sunday  after 
noon  and  was  attended  by  many  who  had  never 
before  given  these  great  themes  any  thoughtful 
study.  Young  men,  like  Dr.  Hall,  for  the  first 
time  took  up  the  Bible  as  they  would  any  other 
book,  with  a  spirit  of  honest  inquiry,  and  the 
result  was  a  deep  and  wide-spread  religious  in 
terest. 

One  of  the  new  young  men  members  proved 
to  be  quite  an  athlete  and  very  bashfully  and 
reluctantly  led  the  Circle  the  week  in  which 
was  read  "  How  to  Get  Strong."  It  was  a  for 
tunate  thing  for  him  too,  as  he  was  out  of 
employment  aad  now  was  induced  to  form  a 
gymnastic  class,  which  paid  his  way  till  he 
found  other  occupation. 


CHAUTAUQUA   CIRCLES.  89 

The  Circle  had  no  more  serious  backslidings 
that  winter.  It  held  a  membership  of  nearly 
forty  throughout  the  Chautauqua  year. 

Last  of  the  books  came  the  "  Stories  from 
English  History."  It  was  voted  by  all  not  so 
much  a  study  as  an  entertainment.  Mrs.  Chap 
man  sat  in  the  teacher's  chair  in  May  and  June 
and  her  duties  were  made  delightful.  The  Circle 
ran  with  wonderful  smoothness.  The  shyest 
members  had  learned  to  answer  questions  in 
audible  voices,  and  many  had  even  grown  bold 
enough  to  ask  them.  Miss  Thurston  had  the 
rare  gift  of  educating — drawing  out — people.  It 
was  most  encouraging  to  timid  souls  to  have 
their  half-fledged  ideas  met  promptly  by  her 
cheerful  and  warm,  "that  is  true,"  or  "that  is 
suggestive,"  or  "let  us  all  remember  that 
thought;"  and  often  she  caught  quickly  a 
blundering  statement  or  answer,  and  clothing 
it  in  her  own  clear  words  she  would  repeat  it 
soon  after  with  the  graceful  reference,  "as  Mr. 
Thompson  says,"  or  "as  Mr.  Leib  suggests." 

Through  all  her  teaching  and  guiding  ran  her 
charming  way  of  saying  "we,"  which  John 


90  KATE  THURSTON'S 

Thompson  had  characterized  so  long  before  as 
"  nice."  It  was  not  art  but  genuine  sympathy. 
She  had  been  a  student  at  the  State  Normal 
School  and  had  known  and  revered  Professor 
Henry  B.  Norton.  Upon  her  as  upon  hundreds 
of  other  young  students  he  had  made  a  li fe-long 
impression.  No  one  who  appreciated  him  or 
his  teaching  could  ever  smile  superciliously  at 
ignorance  or  stupidity.  A  heavenly  pity,  a 
sweet  faith  in  the  possibilities  of  the  least  gifted, 
and  a  Christ-like  brotherliness  toward  the  low 
liest  human  being,  were  the  chief  characteristics 
of  this  great  and  good  teacher.  Kate  Thurston 
had  caught  the  inspiration  of  his  life.  Her 
quick  tears  had  flowed  not  once  or  twice  only 
as  she  heard  him  greet  the  crude  and  perhaps 
even  irrelevant  answer  of  a  dull  pupil  with : 
"  Yes,  there  is  something  in  that  idea."  It  was 
her  one  great  desire  now  to  exemplify  this  same 
helpful  spirit. 

These  San  Benito  Chautauquans,  however, 
surprised  themselves  and  their  neighbors  with 
their  ability.  John  Thompson  affirmed  that 
there  were  more  "talents"  lying  around  San 


CHAUTAUqUA   CIRCLES.  91 

Benito  "  hid  in  napkins  "  before  Miss  Thurston 
came  than  there  ever  were  in  "old  Judee,"  and 
there  were  many  who  agreed  with  him. 

It  certainly  required  an  immense  amount  of 
tact  and  energy  to  coax  the  maiden  essay  or 
speech  out  of  the  average  member,  but  the 
effort  brought  courage,  and  courage  soon  grew 
into  self-possession  and  fearlessness. 

One  of  the  incidental  advantages  of  the  Circle 
was  the  practical  grammatical  knowledge  which 
its  members  gained.  A  critic,  generally  Mr. 
Fiske,  took  impartial  note  of  all  failures,  either 
in  pronunciation  or  syntax,  and  faithfully  re 
ported  them  at  the  close  of  the  evening.  As  a 
result  everybody's  speech  was  improved.  Mrs. 
Brooks  by  heroic  efforts  learned  to  put  a  final 
g  on  most  of  her  imperfect  participles,  and 
Christian  Leib  nearly  paralyzed  his  tongue  with 
his  determined  work  over  our  w's  and  th's. 

The  "  Shut-in  Circle  "  moved  forward  with  no 
jarring.  Its  members  were  not  nearly  so  de 
pendent  on  each  other  as  in  the  other  Circle.  If 
a  down  pour  from  the  sky  or  a  "down  spell" 
from  within  hindered  one  of  Miss  Olmstead's 


92  KATE  THURSTON'S 

"receptions"  no  one  was  at  all  discouraged. 
They  were  all  of  them  used  to  failure  and  dis 
appointment  where  the  outer  world  was  con 
cerned,  and  the  various  little  family  circles, 
which  were  the  "  wheels  within  the  wheel," 
kept  on  their  steadfast  way.  When  they  did 
have  a  meeting  it  was  sure  to  be  bright  with 
Miss  Olmstead's  originality,  quaint  with  Willie 
Kellett's  fancies,  imaginative  with  Mr.  Beck- 
with's  philosophy,  and  heavenly  with  his 
mother's  "sweetness  and  light."  When  Miss 
Thurston  met  with  them,  as  she  often  did,  they 
always  felt  as  if  a  breeze,  pure,  reviving,  and 
odorous  as  a  breath  from  a  garden,  had  swept 
through  their  somewhat  nerveless,  valetudi 
narian  air. 

In  a  hundred  ways  the  young  teacher  found 
her  Chautauqua  Circles  self-rewardful.  The 
schoolroom  showed  the  growing  intelligence  of 
the  pupils'  homes.  A  perceptible  brightening 
of  young  wits  grew  out  of  the  new  atmosphere, 
for  parents  who  were  Chautauquans  took  far 
greater  interest  in  their  children's  education 
and  so  encouraged  both  them  and  their  teacher. 


CHAUTAUqUA    CIRCLES.  93 

There  was  but  one  opinion  in  San  Benitoas 
to  Miss  Thurston  and  her  work.  There  had 
never  been  such  a  teacher  among  them,  and 
they  were  not  slow  in  perceiving  and  acknowl 
edging  it.  From  all  quarters  there  came  to  the 
teacher  earnest  words  of  praise  and  urgent  in 
vitations  to  continue  her  work  among  them 
another  year,  all  of  which  filled  her  heart  with 
thankfulness. 

The  school  closed  the  last  of  May  with  an 
evening  entertainment  in  which  all  the  students 
great  and  small  acquitted  themselves  most  credit 
ably.  Little  black  Pete  covered  himself  with 
glory  by  his  capital  recitation  of  "  How  Persim 
mons  Saved  the  Baby,"  and  one  of  the  young 
Spanish  girls  under  the  teacher's  supervision 
gave  an  excellent  description  of  "  Life  in 
Pueblo  in  the  Good  Old  Times."  Everywhere 
could  be  seen  the  guiding  hand  of  the  true 
educator  bringing  out  the  individuality  of  each 
pupil. 

The  evening  exercises  were  over ;  the  last  pair 
of  small  arms  had  given  Miss  Thurston  a  fervent 
embrace ;  the  last  sweet  young  pleader  had 


94  KATE   THURSTON'S 

charged  her  to  be  sure  and  come  back  next 
fall,  and  Kate,  with  shadow  and  sunshine  in 
her  heart  and  face,  gathered  up  her  few  remain 
ing  personal  effects  and  stood  ready  to  lock  the 
door  as  soon  as  her  faithful  friend  John  Thomp 
son  had  put  out  the  lights.  Martha  and  Jennie 
Brooks  were  waiting  for  her,  but  some  one  else 
was  waiting,  too,  and  the  girls  very  considerately 
took  young  Thompson's  proffered  escort  and 
moved  on. 

"  Let  me  take  your  books  and  parcels,  Miss 
Thurston,"  said  Dr.  Hall,  and  so  they  too 
walked  homeward. 

The  young  trustee  spoke  some  warm  words  of 
commendation  in  regard  to  the  year's  work  in 
the  school  and  then  added :  "I  am  commis 
sioned  by  the  Chautauquans  to  tell  you  that  you 
will  please  make  no  plans  for  going  away  till 
we've  had  our  last  Round  Table,  and  that  will 
be  held  to-morrow." 

"  To-morrow  ?  "  echoed  Kate  in  surprise. 

"  Yes ;  we're  growing  very  independent  of  our 
President,  and,  without  her  knowledge  or  con 
sent,  have  planned  a  picnic  out  in  Madrone 


CHAUTAUqUA    CIRCLES.  95 

Canon,  where  we're  to  have  our  final  Bound 
Table,  gypsy  fashion,  with  sundry  unusual 
accompaniments,  such  as  refreshments  followed 
by  toasts,  and  nobody  knows  what  other  festiv 
ity.  And  I'm  also  to  tell  you,"  he  went  on 
gaily,  "that  you  are  strictly  forbidden  to  feel 
any  care  or  responsibility  in  the  affair." 

"  Did  they  tell  you  to  ask  for  my  resignation?  " 
she  inquired  demurely. 

"No,"  he  laughed,  "that  really  wasn't  men 
tioned.  It's  to  be  a  very  temporary  abdication 
of  your  prerogatives. ' ' 

"  Well,"  said  Kate,  "  I  think  I'll  have  to  stay, 
and  I'll  try  to  be  humble  and  unobtrusive,  yet 
without  any  airs  of  being  discrowned  ;  but  I'm 
glad  it  will  make  only  one  day's  delay  with  me, 
for  like  the  soldier  in  the  poet's  story 

Great  is  the  longing  that  I  have 
To  see  my  mother." 

"I  have  still  another  commission,"  said  the 
Doctor.  "  Indeed  I  feel  quite  like  a  Minister 
Plenipotentiary  or  an  Ambassador  Extraor 
dinary  or  some  other  high  envoy." 

"I  wish  I  could   step   up   on  a   stump  or 


96  KATE   THURSTON' S 

something  to  make  the  scene  more  effective," 
said  Kate. 

"  Oh,  don't  disconcert  me,"  begged  her  friend, 
"  or  I  may  forget  something  of  great  importance. 
The  Board  of  School  Trustees  request  me  form 
ally  to  invite  you  to  return  in  September,  and, 
with  an  increased  salary  and  an  assistant  if  you 
desire  one,  again  to  take  charge  of  our  public 
school." 

Miss  Thurston  paused  in  the  starlight  and 
with  much  show  of  dignity  made  a  low  bow  : 
"I  will  take  the  offer  under  consideration," 
she  said,  "  and  you  will  be  kind  enough  to  con 
vey  that  answer  with  my  profound  thanks  to 
the  honorable  body  which  you  represent." 

And  then  after  a  little,  Dr.  Hall  spoke  with 
entire  seriousness  :  "I  am  not  going  to  let  you 
slip  away,  Miss  Thurston,  without  saying  just  a 
word  to  you  of  my  personal  indebtedness." 

"  Don't,  I  beg  of  you,"  she  pleaded  ;  "  I  have 
done  nothing." 

"  Yes,  you  have,  more  than  you  know,"  he 
went  on.  "You  have  taught  me  that  life  is 
worth  living ;  yes,  and  more  than  this,  you  have 


CHAUTAUQUA   CIRCLES.  97 

taught  me  how  to  live.  I  am  no  longer  walk 
ing  in  darkness  but  in  a  growing  light,  and  I 
must  speak  to  you  of  this  for  I  think," — he 
almost  faltered,  "  that  you  will  care." 

They  were  at  the  gate  and  she  gave  him  her 
hand  with  frank  cordiality.  "  I  am  more  than 
glad,  Dr.  Hall,"  she  said,  and  although  he 
could  but  dimly  see  her  face  he  felt  the  sweet 
earnestness  of  her  words ;  and  then  they  said 
good  night. 


CHAPTEE  VII. 

THE  BOUND  TABLE  IN  THE  CANON. 

"WHAT  is  so  rare  as  a  day  in  June?"  asks 
the  poet.  That  depends  upon  where  it  is.  If  it 
is  in  California  there  is  no  uncertainty  about  it. 
The  sun  rises  in  unclouded  splendor.  No 
thunderstorm,  lurks  just  beyond  the  western 
horizon ;  no  ominous  sultriness  is  in  the  air. 
The  care  free  picnicker  puts  no  provisos  in  his 
invitations  and  no  umbrellas  are  included  in  his 
preparations.  Our  Chautauquans  packed  their 
lunch  baskets  and  engaged  their  omnibuses 
without  once  looking  at  the  sky  or  consult 
ing  the  almanac,  and  the  morning  of  the 
eventful  day  greeted  them  with  its  usual  calm 
beauty. 

It  was  a  busy  morning  at  the  parsonage,  for 
the  three  little  Chapmans  were  all  going  with 
papa  and  mamma  in  the  good  phaeton,  which  of 


CHAUTAUqUA   CIRCLES.  99 

late  years  had  apparently  evolved  a  sort  of  rudi 
mentary  front  seat  to  accommodate  little  Robin 
and  Annie,  who  gaily  occupied  it  on  all  the 
family  excursions,  sitting  with  their  happy  faces 
toward  their  parents,  while  baby  Ned  rode 
alternately  on  everybody's  lap,  or  stood  between 
papa's  knees  and  drove  with  tremendous  energy 
and  ostentation  the  steady  old  horse. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chapman  were  up  with  the  sun, 
and  though  every  possible  arrangement  had 
been  made  over  night,  yet  it  was  nine  o'clock 
before  the  house  was  in  fair  leaving  order,  the 
last  shade  down,  the  last  crazy  little  foot  made 
to  hold  still  long  enough  for  the  shoe-buttoning 
process,  and  the  last  cooky  tucked  under  the 
lunch  basket  cover  where  it  could  easily  be  ab 
stracted  for  little  Ned's  undeferable  appetite. 
The  tired  young  mother  at  last  tied  her  own 
pretty  white  mull-trimmed  hat  beneath  a 
flushed  face  and  with  warm  and  trembling 
hands.  She  was  tired  to  the  very  verge  of  ex 
asperation,  when  a  bearded  face  suddenly 
dropped  down  between  her  and  the  glass,  hin 
dering  the  tying  process  by  so  much  as  a  whole 


100  KATE  THUBSTON'8 

minute,  while  the  voice  she  loved  best  told  her 
that  she  didn't  look  a  day  older  than  on  her 
wedding  day  and  was  a  thousand  times  dearer. 
It  was  a  wonderful  tonic  ! 

Only  a  block  away  the  Fiskes  were  taking 
their  usual  leisurely  breakfast,  discussing  the 
morning  paper  between  bits  of  muffin  and  sips 
of  coffee.  Then  Mrs.  Fiske  attired  herself  in 
the  daintiest  of  picnic  costumes,  remembering 
to  the  minutest  particular  not  only  all  the 
charming  accessories  to  her  toilet  but  a  dozen 
little  devices  of  various  kinds  for  the  comfort 
and  entertainment  of  her  friends,  not  omitting 
a  book  or  two  with  marked  selections  for  read 
ing.  The  man  brought  the  well-groomed  horse 
and  shining  carriage  to  the  door  and  then 
helped  the  maid  bring  out  the  generous  hamper 
of  provisions  which  he  packed  with  sundry 
smaller  bundles  in  the  box  of  the  buggy.  Then 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fiske  stepped  in  and  tucked  the 
linen  duster  carefully  around  them,  every 
arrangement  complete,  from  the  perfectly 
gloved  hands  which  held  the  reins  to  the  soft 
£cru  parasol  of  the  fair  lady.  One  would  say 


CHAUTAUQUA    CIRCLES.  101 

here  was  bliss  unalloyed,  but  just  as  they  were 
starting,  the  minister's  plain  vehicle  went  by 
with  its  overflowing  load.  There  was  a  cordial 
exchange  of  salutations,  and  Mrs.  Fiske,  whom, 
even  little  Ned  recognized  as  a  special  friend, 
leaned  forward  to  toss  oranges  and  blow  kisses 
to  the  little  Chapmans.  Then  she  gave  a  long 
sigh  as  she  settled  herself  again  in  the  carriage. 
"Oh,  Charlie,"  she  said,  and  her  soft  blue  eyes 
were  full  of  tears,  "there  go  the  very  happiest 
people  in  San  Benito." 

The  Brooks  household  was  also  astir  betimes, 
and  Miss  Thurston,  notwithstanding  the  inter 
dict  which  had  been  laid  upon  her,  managed  to 
make  several  small  plans  for  the  benefit  of  her 
Chautauquans.  Mrs.  Brooks'  chief  anxiety 
centered  in  the  ample  lunch  basket.  Chickens 
and  tongue,  pickles  and  sandwiches,  cake  and 
pie,  butter  and  sugar,  and  coffee  and  tea  must 
all  go  in. 

"Dear  Mrs.  Brooks,"  expostulated  Elate,  "we 
never  can  eat  such  a  load  of  provisions,"  but 
Mrs.  Brooks  was  hospitably  resolute. 

"Think  of  the  children  there'll  be  along,  and 


102  KATE   THURSTON'S 

the  drivers,  and  such  men  as  Mr.  Leib  and  our 
John  who' re  used  to  having  their  heartiest  meal 
at  noon,"  she  replied,  as  she  packed  and  re 
packed  the  varied  contents  of  her  pails  and 
baskets. 

Martha  and  Jennie  Brooks  were  in  a  condition 
of  subdued  excitement  very  pleasant  to  look 
upon.  A  holiday  of  such  pleasuring  as  this  was 
a  rare  treat  to  the  pale  young  dressmakers.  As 
to  John  Thompson  he  was  as  irrepressible  as  a 
schoolboy  on  the  Fourth  of  July.  He  appeared 
at  breakfast  in  his  very  new  Sunday  suit,  fairly 
shining  from  the  thoroughness  of  his  ablutions, 
and  devoted  himself  from  that  time  on  to 
ostensible  helpfulness,  but  so  frequently  did  it 
result  in  hindrance  that  he  received  more  scold 
ing  than  gratitude.  He  was  finally  started  out 
by  Miss  Thurston  to  see  if  the  list  of  Chautau- 
quans  given  to  the  omnibus  men  was  complete, 
and  in  this  way  his  superfluous  energy  was 
turned  into  a  new  channel. 

Young  Fowler  was  too  dignified  for  such  an-' 
tics  as  Thompson  was  guilty  of,  but  he  too 
evidently  felt  the  pervading  exhilaration ; 


CHAUTAUQUA  CIRCLES.  103 

indeed  the  whole  atmosphere  of  San  Benito 
tingled  with  it,  and  three  fuller  omnibuses  of 
people  upon  pleasure  bent  never  rolled  towards 
Madrone  Canon.  Miss  Thurston  rode  with  her 
friends  of  the  Brooks  household  in  one  of  the 
omnibuses.  She  had  received  a  very  polite  in 
vitation  early  in  the  morning  to  accept  another 
mode  of  conveyance,  but  the  small  boy  who 
brought  the  note  carried  back  to  its  somewhat 
chagrined  and  disappointed  writer  as  kind  a 
reply  saying  that  she  felt  she  really  belonged  for 
the  day  to  this  small  public  and  could  not  dis 
tribute  herself  satisfactorily,  except  by  going  to 
the  Canon  with  one  omnibus  and  returning 
with  another. 

So  Dr.  Hall  brought  out  Willie  KeUett  com 
fortably  ensconced  in  cushions,  and  with  the 
red  spots  in  his  cheeks  larger  and  his  eyes 
brighter  than  Kate  had  ever  seen  them.  She 
could  hardly  keep  her  tears  back  as  she  sat  be 
side  him  on  the  improvised  couch  of  boughs  and 
cushions  which  eager  hands  spread  for  him  and 
from  which  he  looked  up  with  deep  quiet 
happiness  at  the  lovely  forest  scenery. 

o?  THS""" 

: 


104  KATE  THURSTON'S 

All  the  Beckwiths  came  in  their  own  con 
veyance,  with  Mr.  Beckwith  driving  and  feel 
ing  quite  "  spry  "  in  the  warm  June  sunshine. 
"Grandma,"  who  was  always  timid  about 
riding,  yielded  to  the  temptation  of  the  day  and 
as  she  gently  said,  decided  to  ride  by  "faith  and 
not  by  sight "  just  that  one  day  at  any  rate. 

The  Canon  was  a  beautiful  mountain  range 
some  six  or  eight  miles  eastward  of  the  town 
and  a  favorite  resort  of  picnickers.  The  road 
leading  to  it  was  finely  graded  and  the  horses 
trotted  briskly  along  in  apparently  as  good 
spirits  as  the  Chautauquans.  In  the  omnibuses 
there  was  the  usual  telling  of  stories  and  merry 
overflow  of  small  talk,  with  that  easily  pro 
voked  and  contagious  laughter  which  betokens 
good  fellowship. 

"  We  are  acting  like  big  school  children  out 
for  a  holiday,"  said  Mrs.  Brooks  half  depreca- 
tingly. 

" So  we  do,"  said  Christian  Leib,  "and  so  we 
do  well ;  we  are  not  half  children  enough  here 
in  America,  I  think."  He  had  brought  his  two 
sturdy  little  sons  along,  in  spite  of  Mrs.  Leib's 


CHAUTAUQUA   CIRCLES.  105 

fears  that  they  wouldn't  "  behave  themselves," 
and  it  was  pleasant  indeed  to  see  what  genial 
comradery  there  was  between  the  father  and  the 
boys.  . 

The  young  Chautauquans  had  very  naturally 
gravitated  towards  one  omnibus  and  the  family 
people  to  the  others.  Kate  was  with  the  latter 
and  felt  far  more  at  home  there  with  the  fathers 
and  mothers,  and  with  the  children  who  had 
been  her  pupils  now  mildly  quarrelling  for  the 
privilege  of  sitting  next  to  their  dear  teacher. 
She  abandoned  herself  without  reserve  to  the 
spirit  of  the  day,  looked  wherever  little  fingers 
pointed  at  squirrels  or  butterflies  or  meadow- 
larks,  often  twisting  her  neck  nearly  off  to 
catch  vanishing  glimpses  of  what  some  pair  of 
bright  young  eyes  had  discovered. 

For  some  distance  the  road  led  through  a 
level  country  with  pleasant  rural  homes  scat 
tered  along  on  either  side ;  then  the  soft  undula 
tions  of  the  foothills  were  reached  and  the  road 
ascended  with  long  curves  and  ever  widening 
outlooks.  The  broad  valley  with  its  wheat 
fields,  orchards,  and  vineyards  lay  shimmering 


106  KATE   THURSTON'S 

in  the  bright  June  sunshine,  as  beautiful  as 
Arcadia,  while  the  range  of  distant  hills  on  the 
far  horizon  had  the  soft  smoke-like  blue  color 
which  rims  almost  every  California  landscape. 
A  hush  of  delight  settled  over  the  merry  party, 
broken  only  by  exclamations  from  the  irre 
pressible,  or  by  petitions  to  the  driver  at  each 
new  point  of  observation  to  stop  for  a  fresh  feast 
to  the  eyes  of  his  passengers.  But  at  last  the 
road  entered  the  canon  and  the  great  cliffs  shut 
out  the  rest  of  the  world.  The  air  grew  cooler. 
A  greener  hue  came  over  the  wayside  grass  and 
shrubs,  and  the  rippling  and  gurgling  of  a  little 
brook  began  to  be  heard,  a  sound  most  musical 
to  the  dwellers  in  the  streamless  California 
valleys.  Beautiful  wild  flowers  fringed  the 
brookside  or  hung  pendulous  from  the  cliffs. 
The  little  wild  linnets  and  canaries  hospitably 
greeted  the  picnickers  and  every  green  leaf  on 
the  trees  seemed  to  welcome  them  and  to  whis 
per,  as  they  did  to  the  dear  poet  Longfellow, 

Come,  be  a  child  once  more. 

Our  friends  could  bardly  wait  to  reach  the 
selected  spot  where  a  widening  of  the  gorge 


CHAUTAUQUA   CIRCLES.  107 

made  room  for  a  grove  of  oaks  and  madrones, 
and  the  moment  the  horses  stopped,  old  and 
young  made  haste  to  alight.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Fiske  had  arrived  quite  a  little  in  advance  of 
the  others  and  very  naturally  took  the  role  of 
host  and  hostess.  Mrs.  Fiske  came  forward 
•with  her  hands  too  full  of  bluebells  to  allow  of 
the  usual  hand-shaking,  but  she  never  seemed 
more  cordial  or  at  home  than  when  she  bade  the 
ladies  come  right  into  her  boudoir  where  every 
one  could  have  an  opportunity  to  at  least  lave 
her  hands  in  the  fountain  of  youth  which  she 
had  just  discovered. 

"And  every  boy  present  may  take  off  his 
shoes  and  stockings  and  have  a  good  wade," 
cried  Mr.  Leib,  but  every  youngster  had  already 
rushed  for  the  water  with  as  unerring  an  instinct 
as  if  he  were  a  turtle. 

When  Mr.  Chapman  arrived  with  his  pair  of 
boys  it  really  seemed  for  a  while,  as  there  was 
no  corral  on  the  grounds,  that  he  would  have  to 
tether  them  to  prevent  their  amphibian  tenden 
cies.  One  of  the  young  men  had  brought  a  long 
rope  for  a  swing,  and  offered  it  to  the  anxious 


108  KATE   THURSTON'S 

father,  but  the  little  fellows  soon  learned  that 
there  were  metes  and  bounds  for  boys  as  well  as 
brooks,  and  the  swing  went  up  to  the  great 
satisfaction  of  the  girls,  who  were  soon  emula 
ting  the  birds  in  their  breezy  flight.  Two  or 
three  family  carry-alls,  each  with  a  fresh  install 
ment  of  Chautauquans,  arrived  in  the  course  of 
an  hour  and  completed  the  party.  Horses  were 
taken  off  and  tied  where  they  could  browse 
about  in  deep  content.  Robes  and  cushions 
were  spread  on  the  grass  and  pleasant  groups 
sat  down  on  them  in  picturesque  neighborliness. 
Grandma  Beckwith  was  led  near  Willie  Kel- 
lett's  couch  and  seated  on  a  camp  chair  which 
had  been  brought  for  her,  and  there  she  sat 
taking  in  all  the  sweet  woodland  odors  and 
sounds,  and  enjoying  to  the  full  all  the  pleasant 
greetings  and  conversation  which  came  to  her, 
especially  the  long  chat  with  Willie  for  whom 
she  had  a  tender  and  growing  affection.  They 
both  regretted  that  it  was  impossible  for  Miss 
Olmstead  to  be  one  of  the  party  and  planned  to 
take  her  such  a  great  basket  of  wild  flowers  and 
ferns  as  should  make  her  prison  walls  a  bower 


CHAUTAUQUA   CIRCLES.  109 

of  beauty,  a  plan  they  found  easy  to  carry  out 
as  their  friends  were  constantly  bringing  to 
them  the  choicest  of  their  cullings. 

Everywhere  Miss  Thurston  was  in  great 
demand.  The  boys  wanted  her  to  come  to  the 
launching  of  a  mimic  fleet ;  the  girls  insisted 
she  should  try  the  swing,  and  each  group  that 
she  approached  made  place  for  her  with  eager 
friendliness.  She  was  about  as  happy  as  it  is 
often  given  to  mortals  to  be,  what  with  her 
year's  work  satisfactorily  done,  and  her  well- 
earned  vacation  beginning  in  this  charming 
way.  She  appreciated  it  all  with  fresh  young 
enthusiasm  and  as  she  took  long  deep  inspira 
tions  of  the  pure  exhilarating  odorous  air  she 
thanked  God  for  the  delight  of  being.  She  was 
an  ardent  tree  lover  and  had  not  seen  a  great 
gnarled  nature-planted  tree  in  a  whole  year. 
How  her  eyes  feasted  now  upon  these  forest 
monarchs  !  From  her  childhood  she  had  been 
enraptured  with  running  water,  yet  for  years 
had  not  heard  the  music  of  a  waterfall.  How 
she  drank  in  this  liquid  melody  ! 

Of  the  same  kind,  if  not  degree,   was  Mrs. 


110  KATE   THURSTON'S 

Brooks'  enjoyment  of  the  scene.  She  sat  down 
under  a  beautiful  madrone  tree,  folded  her 
hands  in  an  idleness  so  unwonted  that  she 
could  scarcely  pacify  her  conscience,  and  lost 
herself  in  a  reverie  which  brought  back  the  far- 
off  days  of  her  childhood.  The  old  Vermont 
home  rose  before  her  and  she  heard  the  tinkle  of 
the  little  brook  that  ran  by  the  old  doorstone. 
Christian  Leib  became  the  centre  of  an  inter 
ested  group  to  whom  he  described  with  great 
vividness  and  in  very  good  English  how  the 
German  peasant  keeps  his  holidays.  Mrs.  Fiske 
drew  him  out  with  her  bright  questions  and  all 
were  entertained  with  his  account  of  the  simple 
rural  games,  the  athletic  sports,  and  the  good 
homely  fare  of  "Vaterland."  He  spoke 
guardedly  of  the  drinking  customs,  looking 
kindly  at  the  listening  boys:  "Our  brown 
bread  is  good  ;  our  cheese  is  good  ;  bologna  sau 
sage  is  good — better,  I  think,  than  cake  and  pie, 
but  the  beer  and  wine  is  bad — all  bad.  It  makes 
the  men  to  act  not  like — Chautauquans,"  he 
added,  after  casting  about  for  a  noble  representa 
tive  class. 


CHAUTAUQUA  CIRCLES.  Ill 

John  Thompson  swung  the  young  ladies  with 
such  vigor  and  persistence  that  his  collar  be 
came  noticeably  limp,  but  his  zeal  and  his 
muscle  never  seemed  to  flag.  He  was  very 
kind  and  attentive  in  other  directions  also,  and, 
forgetting  himself,  really  seemed  intelligent  and 
well  bred.  John  was  evidently  growing  toward 
his  ideal. 

Various  parties  wandered  off  down  inviting 
little  by-ways  and  came  back  with  long  stream 
ers  of  fragrant  yerba  buena  wound  about  their 
hats,  and  their  hands  overflowing  with  wild 
flowers — lupines,  painted  cups,  airy  little  "  lan 
terns  of  the  fairies,"  roses  and  the  gorgeous 
eschscholtzias  which  flame  on  every  California 
hillside  in  the  spring  and  linger  in  moist  places 
even  till  autumn. 

Every  one  took  his  or  her  pleasure  according 
to  the  desire  of  their  hearts.  But  something 
seemed  to  call  them  all  in  about  half  past  eleven. 
There  was  a  prevailing  impression  that  it  was 
fully  noon,  which  found  voice  through  sundry 
small  boys  who  boldly  asserted  that  it  was 
dinner  time.  A  vote  was  taken  which  resulted 


112  KATE  THURSTON'8 

in  the  triumph  of  appetites  over  watches.  One 
of  the  party  who  was  an  old  miner,  had  already 
made  an  excellent  fire  and  set  a  huge  tea  kettle 
over  the  glowing  coals  and  now  the  housewives 
had  only  to  bring  their  coffee  and  teapots  to 
this  improvised  range  for  the  final  prepara 
tion. 

Red  table  cloths  were  spread  on  the  grass  and 
heaped  with  tempting  viands,  while  the  children 
looked  on  with  undisguised  interest.  Every 
body  contributed  to  the  feast.  Mr.  Fowler  did 
valiant  service  with  a  lemon  squeezer,  and  under 
one  of  the  young  ladies'  direction  produced  a 
pailful  of  delicious  lemonade.  One  would  have 
said  as  old  Chaucer  did  of  his  Franklein?s 
larder,  that 

It  snowed  there  of  mete  and  drinke. 
At  last  everything  was  ready.  Mrs.  Fiske 
had  even  set  her  glasses  of  amber  and  ruby- 
hued  ielly  where  the  sun  brought  out  their  con 
trasted  beauty;  had  put  the  bottle  of  olives 
near  the  seat  she  had  planned  for  Dr.  Hall  who 
liked  them  as  if  he  were  a  Greek  ;  had  arranged 
an  ingenious  system  of  flower  tokens  by  which 


CHAUTAUQUA  CIRCLES.  113 

each  person's  place  was  designated,  and  aston 
ished  them  all  with  her  pretty  devices.  Then 
Mr.  Chapman  thanked  the  Heavenly  Father 
for  all  His  good  gifts  and  asked  in  true  Chautau- 
qua  phrase  that  they  might  ever  "keep  Him  in 
the  midst."  And  the  gay  little  feast  began  in 
that  great  dining  hall  whose  walls  were  older 
than  history  and  whose  ceiling  was  the  infinite 
dome  of  the  sky. 

In  process  of  time  it  came  to  an  end,  and  Kate 
had  to  acknowledge  that  Mrs.  Brooks'  judgment 
in  regard  to  provisions  had  been  better  than  her 
own.  It  was  quite  an  easy  matter  to  gather  up 
the  fragments. 

Then  the  Circle  widened  out  a  little,  though 
all  kept  their  relative  places,  and  the  Secretary 
whisked  out  her  little  record  book  and  proceeded 
to  call  the  roll.  No  less  than  thirty  of  the  forty 
members  were  present  and  responded  with  a 
quotation  fitted  to  the  occasion. 

"The  groves  were  God's  first  temples,"  said 
Mr.  Chapman. 

"  Oh  gift  of  God,  Oh  perfect  day!"  said  Mrs. 
Chapman. 


114  KATE   THURSTON'S 

"  The  smell  of  the  flowering  grasses  is  sweeter 
than  any  rose,"  said  Jennie  Brooks. 

"  He  maketh  me  to  lie  down  in  green  pas 
tures,"  said  her  mother. 

"  He  leadeth  me  beside  the  still  waters,"  said 
Mrs.  Beckwith. 

"  A  noise  like  that  of  a  hidden  brook 

In  the  leafy  month  of  June, 
That  to  the  sleeping  woods  all  night 
Slngeth  a  quiet  tune," 

was  Mr.  Fiske's  quotation. 

"  The  infinite  bliss  of  nature 

I  feel  in  every  vein, 
The  light  and  the  life  of  summer 
Blossom  in  heart  and  brain," 

said  Mrs.  Fiske  when  her  turn  came. 

'•  Spake  full  well  in  language  quaint  and  olden, 

One  who  dwelleth  by  the  castled  Rhine, 
When  he  called  the  flowers  so  blue  and  golden, 
Stars,  that  in  earth's  flrmanent  do  shine," 

answered  Christian  Leib. 
Willie  Kellett's  response  was  from  Chaucer : 

"  The  birdes  song  was  more  pleasant  to  me 
Than  mete  or  drinke  or  any  other  thynge." 

It  was  reserved  for  the  gentle  schoolmistress 
herself  to  recite  Lowell's  "June  Day,"  which 
she  did  with  a  simplicity  and  naturalness 


CHAUTAUQUA    CIRCLES.  115 

quite  different  from  the  ordinary  elocutionist. 

"  To  me  the  smallest  flower  that  blows  can  bring 
Thoughts  which  do  often  lie  too  deep  for  tears," 

quoted  one. 

Another  had  a  verse  from  Shelley's  "  Sky 
lark."  Another  a  verse  from  Tennyson's 
"  Talking  Oak."  Another,  Browning's  "  Oh  to 
be  in  England  "  ;  while  lines  from  Byron  and 
Burns  and  our  own  nature-loving  poets,  fol 
lowed  in  rapid  succession, — a  rosary  of  thought- 
pearls  whose  careful  choosing  and  assigning  be 
trayed  the  same  deft  hand  that  had  made  even 
the  details  of  the  lunch  table  graceful  and  har 
monious. 

When  Dr.  Hall's  turn  came  he  said  : 

"  None  looked  upon  her  but  he  straightway  thought 

Of  all  the  greenest  depths  of  country  cheer, 
And  into  each  one's  mind  was  freely  brought 
What  was  to  him  the  sweetest  time  of  year." 

But  he  looked  steadfastly  into  a  tree-top  as  he 
repeated  it  as  if  there  were  no  allusions  to  any 
lower  object. 

When  the  roll  call  came  to  an  end  Mr.  Chap 
man  was  suddenly  discovered  to  have  a  pro 
gram,  on  which  next  in  order  came  "Toasts." 
These  were  in  Mr.  Fiske's  hands  and  were 


116  KATE  THURSTON'S 

formally  announced  and  drank  in  Mr.  Fowler's 

excellent  lemonade. 

First:  "The  C.  L.  S.  C.f"  responded  to  by 
Mr.  Chapman  in  terms  of  glowing  appreciation. 

Second  :  "  The  San  Benito  Circle,"  responded 
to  by  John  Thompson,  who  said  that  there 
might  perhaps  be  smarter  Circles  in  the  United 
States,  but  they  were  yet  to  be  heard  from. 
(Laughter  and  prolonged  applause.)  John  took 
courage  and  went  on  to  modify  his  remark : 
"There  may  be  just  as  smart  people  in  some 
other  town  but  the  great  thing  is  to  get  them 
together  and  start  them.  There's  lots  of  gold  in 
these  California  hills,  but  the  smart  thing  is  to 
find  it;  we  all  know,"  he  concluded,  "who 
struck  this  lead,"  and  he  s?,t  down  in  a  perfect 
salvo  of  applause. 

Third:  "Our  President,"  read  Mr.  Fiske. 
Poor  Kate  threw  up  her  hands  in  supplication, 
but  Mrs.  Chapman  was  on  her  feet  and  not  to  be 
stopped :  "  We  will  be  sparing  of  our  praises 
however  richly  deserved,"  she  said,  "but  if  he 
is  held  in  honor  who  makes  two  blades  of  grass 
grow  where  one  grew  before,  what  shall  be  said 


CHAUTAUQUA    CIRCLES.  117 

of  her  who  has  sown  the  seed  for  such  a  golden 
harvest  as  this?  Let  us  give  her  our  fervent 
benediction  !  (A  tremendous  flutter  of  hand 
kerchiefs  arose  here,  as  if  a  flock  of  white  doves 
had  swept  down  upon  the  scene.)  If  we  lay  an 
other  little  tribute  at  her  feet  it  is  only  a  token 
of  our  love  and  gratitude."  And  here  Mr.  Leib 
produced  from  its  hiding  place  a  box  containing 
a  complete  set  of  Scott's  novels  in  a  choice 
edition,  and  set  them  down  before  the  young 
President,  whose  words  failed  her  but  whose 
looks  were  eloquent  with  surprise  and  pleasure. 

There  might  have  been  an  embarrassing  pause 
here  but  for  another  Chautauqua  salute,  and 
then  Mr.  Fiske  hurried  on  to  the  last  toast : 

"The  No  table  Housewives  who  have  Spread 
our  Feast,"  which  called  out  Dr.  Hall  in  a  com 
plimentary  speech  about  Chautauqua  women  as 
mistresses  of  more  arts  than  are  mentioned  on 
diplomas.  He  said  some  excellent  things  about 
culture  of  the  intellect  giving  added  power  in 
every  direction,  and  made  a  pleasant  ripple  of 
laughter  at  the  close  of  his  remarks  by  saying 
that  "  it  was  a  little  trying  to  him  to  be  called 


118  KATE  THURSTON'S 

upon  to  speak  in  favor  of  good  cookery  when  it 
was  a  well  known  fact  that  his  profession  was 
deeply  indebted  to  the  other  kind." 

"  Riddles  and  conundrums,  strictly  original," 
read  Mr.  Chapman  from  his  program. 

"I  am  the  most  famous  of  Chautauquans," 
said  Mrs.  Fiske,  "  and  am  composed  of  two 
syllables.  My  first  is  the  French  name  for 
wine  ;  my  second  is  a  coin  ignored  in  California ; 
my  whole  we  delight  to  honor." 

"Vincent !  "  cried  half  a  dozen  voices. 

"  I  also  am  composed  of  two  syllables,"  said 
Mr.  Chapman.  "My  first  is  frequently  found 
beside  rivers ;  my  second  is  said  by  a  famous 
poet  to  be  human  ;  my  whole  is  another  famous 
Chautauquan  as  well  as  a  proverbially  dusty 
individual." 

' '  As  dusty  as  a — Miller, ' '  suggested  Kate,  who 
had  recovered  her  voice. 

"I'm  another  famous  Chautauqua  counselor," 
said  Lizzie  Towner,  "  and  my  name  once  meant 
a  priest  at  the  head  of  a  monastery." 

"Abbott,"  guessed  somebody. 

"  I  belong  to  the  same  '  goodlie  companie,' '; 


CHAUTAUQUA    CIRCLES.  119 

said  Kate,  c<  and  am  as  vigorous  and  wholesome 
as  my  name." 

"  Hale  ! "  went  up  from  ever  so  many  voices. 

"  This  is  severe  on  the  magi,"  said  Dr.  Hall, 
"  but  I  can't  help  giving  one  more.  My  first  is 
only  right  as  a  last  resort;  my  second  is  a  familiar 
bird ;  my  whole  is  an  abode  for  a  domesticated 
animal,  and  also  the  name  of  a  counselor,  whose 
pardon  I  ask." 

"  Warren  ! "  cried  at  least  a  dozen. 

"Let  the  counselors  have  a  rest  now,"  said 
Mrs.  Fiske,  laughing,  "but  who  of  our  number 
is  very  suitably  domiciled  if  her  name  indicates 
her  destiny?" 

There  was  silence  for  moment  and  then  a 
gleam  came  into  Dr.  Hall's  eyes  : 

"  If  Miss  Kate  is  doomed  to  thirst  on,  where 
should  she  live  but  with  the  Brooks  f  "  he  in 
quired. 

"This  is  getting  dangerously  personal,"  said 
Mr.  Chapman.  "  I  feel  sure  I  shall  be  the  next 
victim,  so  I'll  hurry  on  with  my  program." 

"  A  Sermon  from  a  Stone,"  by  Robert  Dean. 

Then   up   rose   the   young  suburban  school- 


120  KATE  THURSTON'S 

teacher  and  picking  up  a  pebble  from  the 
brook,  he  told  in  a  clear  interesting  way  the 
geologic  story  of  the  stone.  It  occupied  less 
than  ten  minutes  but  it  was  a  capital  object 
lesson  and  set  the  boys  thinking. 

"Becitation  by  Flora  Towner,"  and  that 
charming  young  lady  recited  with  wonderful 
effect,  partly  no  doubt  due  to  the  environment, 
Lowell's  "  A  Beggar  Through  the  Wood  am  I." 
At  the  appeal  to  the  oak  she  had  but  to  stretch 
out  her  hands  to  the  great  tree  which  sheltered 

her: 

"  A  little  of  thy  steadfastness 
Bounded  with  leafy  gracefulness, 

Old  oak  give  me, 

That  the  world's  blasts  may  round  me  blow 
And  I  yield  gently  to  and  fro, 
"While  my  stout  hearted  trunk  below, 
And  firm  set  roots,  unshaken  be." 

Then  too,  right  across  the  brook  was  the  rock 
for  her  to  appeal  to  when  she  begged  for  some 
"  stern,  unyielding  might "  of  the  "  old  granite 
gray." 

There  was  the  "cheerful  brook"  with  its 
"sparkling  light  content "  ;  there  was  the  pine 
with  its  "  never  dying  green,"  and  lastly  the 
"sweet  violet"  right  at  her  feet, — and  as  she 


CHAUTAUQUA   CIRCLES.  121 

begged  for  their  lovely  gifts  she  seemed  the 
prettiest  and  most  winsome  beggar  that  ever 
went  through  the  wood. 

"Tongues  in  Trees,"  called  up  a  young  lady 
very  much  interested  in  botany,  who  read  a  five- 
minute  essay  naming  all  the  trees  in  the  Canon 
and  giving  a  few  of  their  characteristics. 

"Recitation"  again,  and  this  time  Christian 
Leib  read  capitally  this  translation  from  his  own 
Ditmarsh  poet,  Klaus  Groth  : 

"  There  dwelt  a  man  in  meadows  green 
"Who  hadn't  a  cup  or  platter  e'en ; 
To  passing  brook  for  drink  he  stooped, 
And  cherries  plucked  that  o'er  him  drooped. 

"  A  jolly  man !    A  jolly  man ! 
He'd  never  a  pot ;  he'd  never  a  pan ; 
He  ate  the  apples  off  the  tree, 
And  slept  in  clover  cosily. 

"  The  sun  for  him  was  timepiece  good : 
His  bird-cage  was  the  shady  wood, 
They  sang  to  him  nights  above  his  head 
And  waked  him  with  the  dawning  red. 

"  This  man  (Oh,  what  a  silly  man  I) 
To  be  o'er  nice  at  last  began, 
To  be  o'er  fussy  he  began, — 
We've  lived  in  houses  e'er  since  then. — 
Come !  Let's  off  to  the  woods  again ! " 

"  Music,  by  the  Chautauqua  Quartet,"  read 
the  minister,  and  four  harmonious  voices  sang, 
"  We  gather  the  fragments,  Lord." 


122  KATE   THURSTON'S 

The  end  of  the  program  was  reached.  A 
whole  hour  had  slipped  away  delightfully. 
Only  the  children  had  strayed  away — what 
"program"  could  ever  hold  a  child  of  thoroughly 
natural  tastes  ? 

The  mothers  were  growing  a  little  anxious 
minded,  but  Miss  Thurston  detained  them  a 
moment.  "Dear  friends,"  she  said,  "this 
Chautauqua  Circle  has  been  far  more  to  me 
than  I  have  to  the  Circle,  and  I  want  to  thank 
you  over  and  over  for  all  your  kindness.  I  can 
never  forget  any  of  you — nor  this  perfect  day.  I 
wish  it  were  possible  that  we  all  might  meet  at 
Monterey.  Do  try  to  plan  for  it.  Monterey  is 
so  near  I  am  sure  you  can  many  of  you  go  even 
if  your  stay  has  to  be  short  at  the  Assembly. 
This  is  my  graduating  year.  How  I  would  love 
to  have  my  Chautauquans  around  me!  You 
all  have  the  Assembly  circulars  and  know  how 
much  has  been  planned  for  us.  I  do  not  mean 
to  say  good-by  to  you,  but  just  au  revoir,  or,  as 
Mr.  Leib  would  say,  auf  wiedersehen." 

And  so  the  Round  Table  adjourned  not  ex 
actly  sine  die. 


CHAUTAUQUA   CIRCLES.  123 

An  hour  or  so  more  of  strolling  and  chatting 
on  the  part  of  the  older  people,  of  cliff-climbing 
by  the  adventurous  boys,  of  fern-hunting  by 
the  girls,  of  little  romantic  saunterings  off  down 
sylvan  paths  by  young  people  to  whom  a  third 
party  was  one  too  many,  and  it  was  discovered 
that  the  sun  was  dropping  down  the  west  with 
that  fatal  celerity  which  is  especially  noticeable 
on  red-letter  days.  The  young  people  came  back 
from  their  walks,  gentlemen  began  to  look  at 
their  watches,  and  the  boys  were  poking  into 
their  mothers'  lunch  baskets  to  see  what  was 
left.  It  was  time  to  go  home. 

"  Let  us  have  one  more  song  from  our  quar 
tet,"  pleaded  Mrs.  Fiske,  and  so  the  young 
singers  stood  up  in  the  flickering  shade  and 
sang  the  grandest  of  Chautauqua  songs  : 

"  Sing  pseans  over  the  past, 

We  bury  the  dead  years  tenderly 
To  find  them  again  in  eternity, 
Slug  paeans  over  the  past. 

"  But  hail— all  hail  to  the  new ! 

The  future  lies  like  a  world  new-born 
All  steeped  in  sunshine  and  mists  of  morn, 
And  arched  with  a  cloudless  blue. 
All  hail !    All  hail  to  the  new ! " 

As  the   sweet   voices   rose  and   fell   in  the 


124  KATE  THURSTON'S 

cadences  of  the  first  verse  an  irresistible  "  teari- 
ness"  fell  upon  the  gentler  sex,  but  most  of 
them  brightened  up  over  the  joyous  final  out 
burst. 

The  next  morning  Kate  ran  over  to  Mrs. 
Fiske  for  a  parting  word,  and  as  she  held  her 
friend's  hand  long  and  closely,  she  said  :  "  How 
much  I  owe  you,  and  what  an  enchantress' 
wand  you  held  yesterday  ! " 

"Oh,  no  !  no  ! "  protested  Mrs.  Fiske.  "  It  is 
I  who  am  your  hopeless  debtor.  It  is  you  who 
always  have  a  heart  at  leisure  from  itself.  But 
as  to  our  pleasant  yesterday,  of  course  I  did  put 
some  thought  into  it.  Why  shouldn't  I  when  I 
love  you  so,  Katie? " 


CHAPTEE  VIII. 

BY  MONTEREY   BAY. 

CHAUTAUQUA  LAKE  with  its  Parthenon-like 
Hall  in  the  Grove,  its  Colosseum-like  Amphi 
theater,  and  its  cultured  associations,  can  well 
begin  to  wear  classic  airs.  But  the  Occidental 
Chautauquans  have  no  less  beautiful  a  home  for 
their  Assembly.  Man  has  done  less ;  but  the 
matchless  bay,  the  limitless  forest,  the  majestic 
mountains,  make  up  an  environment  before 
which  all  human  architecture  must  fade  away. 
All  these  combine  to  make  Monterey  incompara 
bly  charming.  It  is  rich  also  in  historical 
associations.  Here  a  hundred  years  ago  the 
Franciscan  friars  came  with  as  lofty  a  courage 
and  as  sublime  a  devotion  as  brought  the  Pil 
grims  to  the  New  England  coast.  It  was  even 
a  more  purely  Christian  enterprise  than  that  of 
the  Mayflower;  and  the  cross  these  black-robed 


126  KATE  THURSTON'8 

men  planted  as  soon  as  they  set  foot  upon  the 
wave-washed  beach  was  the  symbol  of  a  faith 
unwavering  as  the  rock  beneath  it,  and  the 
pledge  of  a  devotion  which  might  easily  end  in 
martyrdom. 

To  Kate  Thurston  this  favorite  camp  ground 
was  a  familiar  spot.  For  two  years  she  had 
spent  a  fortnight  of  her  vacation  here  and  her 
love  for  the  place  was  constantly  deepening. 
She  had  seen  the  beautiful  cottages  spring  up 
like  enchantment  on  every  hand,  and  realized 
that  a  little  city  of  summer  homes  would  soon 
take  the  place  of  the  old  clusters  of  tents ;  she 
welcomed,  with  a  shade  of  reservation,  all  the 
improvements  in  the  line  of  artistic  adornment 
and  modern  convenience.  Her  only  fear  was  that 
that  wonderful  pine  forest  would  too  soon  lose 
its  flavor  of  the  wilderness,  and  that  its  sylvan 
paths,  which  the  shy  woodland  creatures  now 
haunted  with  such  freedom,  might  have  to  give 
way  to  carefully  graded  streets  and  broad 
avenues.  But  the  Chautauqua  Assembly  was  a 
modern  improvement  which  Kate  welcomed 
without  reserve.  Indeed  it  was  that  which  first 


CHAUTAUQUA   CIRCLES.  127 

drew  her  to  Monterey.  For  two  summers  she 
had  studied  the  flora  of  the  sea  with  that  en 
cyclopedia  of  marine  lore,  Dr.  C.  L.  Anderson, 
to  whom  the  sea  is  what  the  forest  was  to  his 
friend,  Henry  D.  Thoreau. 

She  had  gathered  shells  with  that  other  in 
defatigable  genius  of  the  Monterey  Assembly, 
Professor  Josiah  Keep,  and  had  peered  with  him 
into  the  beauty  and  the  mystery  of  these  lowly 
forms  of  animal  life. 

She  had  looked  with  reverent  awe  through 
Dr.  Wythe's  great  microscope,  had  listened  to 
his  eloquent  and  learned  talks  upon  the  science 
of  life,  and  had  thrilled  responsive  to  his  clear 
demonstration  that  SOUL  still  eludes  the  finest 
analysis  of  the  biologist. 

She  had  listened  to  and  enjoyed  all  the 
brilliant  lecturers  and  essayists  of  the  Assem 
blies  of  '82  and  '83,  and  greatly  prized  the  little 
acquaintance  she  had  with  all  the  officers  and 
teachers  of  the  Pacific  Coast  Branch  of  the 
C.  L.  8.  C.  But  to  her  the  attractions  of  the 
Assembly  centered  in  her  beloved  teacher-friend, 
Prof.  Norton.  It  was  his  tall  peculiar  figure 


128  KATE   THURSTON'S 

which  her  eye  singled  out  in  any  crowd.  It  was 
his  kind,  fatherly  :  "  Why,  how  do  you  do,  my 
child?  "  with  the  brightening  of  the  fine  dark 
eyes,  the  softening  of  the  lines  in  the  serious, 
thoughtful  face,  and  the  cordial  grasp  of  the 
strong  but  gentle  hand,  that  made  the  one  wel 
come  which  to  her  was  worth  coming  two 
hundred  miles  to  receive. 

The  summer  Assembly  of  1884  was  not  to  be 
illuminated  by  Prof.  Norton's  presence ;  Kate 
knew  that  he  had  gone  East,  but  it  was  her 
graduating  time  and  she  felt  a  great  desire  to 
celebrate  the  occasion.  Her  diploma  would  have 
greatly  added  value  if  it  came  from  Dr.  Strat- 
ton's  hand,  and  her  loyal  heart  answered  to  all 
the  social  elements  in  the  Chautauqua  plan. 
Her  young  spirit  was  easily  stirred  by  ceremo 
nial  and  she  often  declared  that  she  was  a 
regular  Fourth  of  July  girl  as  her  birthday 
chanced  to  dictate.  She  frankly  owned  that  she 
doted  on  music  and  banners. 

So  when  she  reached  her  home  in  Sacramento, 
and  had  settled  down  to  practical  life  after  the 
first  day  or  two  of  joyous  overflow,  she  began  to 


CHAUTAUQUA   CIRCLES.  129 

unfold  a  scheme  which  was  to  include  the  whole 
household  and  make  a  grand  holiday. 

The  family  was  made  up  of  a  father  who  had 
been  a  Congregational  minister  of  not  a  little 
local  fame  in  far-off  New  England,  but  whom  an 
accident,  followed  by  a  long  semi-invalidism, 
had  left  poor  in  purse  yet  rich  in  the  graces 
which  suffering  brings  and  in  the  loving  devo 
tion  of  his  wife  and  children  ;  a  mother  whose 
natural  gentleness  and  unselfishness  had  been 
deepened  by  care  and  sorrow  ;  an  older  sister 
who  was  a  popular  teacher  in  one  of  the  Sacra 
mento  schools ;  and  a  young  brother  who  was 
hilarious  to  the  full  extent  of  his  boy  allow 
ance. 

It  was  from  her  father  largely  that  Kate  in 
herited  her  fine  brave  spirited  nature,  and  they 
were  friends  and  allies  to  a  delightful  degree. 
So  she  took  her  low  ottoman  beside  her  father's 
chair  in  the  twilight  of  a  sultry  June  day,  and 
thus  as  it  were  intrenched  in  her  fortifications, 
boldly  challenged  the  rest  of  the  family  with : 
"  Papa  and  I  think  we  can  all  go  to  Monterey 
for  the  month  of  July !". 


130  KATE   THURSTON'8 

11  Dear  me,  what  a  project  I"  said  the  mother 
almost  with  a  gasp. 

"That  sounds  like  Katie,"  said  Mary,  which 
meant  that  it  might  possibly  be  a  little  vision 
ary. 

"  Hooray  !  "  cried  Fred. 

"Yes,"  went  on  Kate,  quite  regardless  of  in 
terruptions,  "it  is  like  this.  There  are  the 
Nelsons  over  at  the  hotel  who'll  just  like  to  come 
into  our  shady  little  house  and  take  care  of 
things.  They'll  pay  something  for  rent,  too; 
and  here  are  Mary  and  I  getting  positively 
affluent,  and  though  Mary  can't  go  with  us  she 
can  come  the  very  day  her  school  closes,  while 
Fred  can  lose  a  few  days  of  school  without  harm. 
Of  course  he'll  be  heartbroken  about  it  (here 
Fred  whipped  out  a  handkerchief  and  fell  to 
Bopping  up  imaginary  tears),  yet  I  can  teach 
him  several  things  at  Monterey  (at  this  he 
brightened  up  a  little)  and  we  can  take  a  tent 
and  live  ever  so  cheaply,  and  I'll  pay  the  bills 
and  be  only  too  happy !  Now  somebody  else 
may  speak  briefly  and  to  the  point,  provided 
they  don't  go  to  objecting." 


CHAUTAUQUA  CIRCLES.  131 

"  I  may  as  well  confess,"  said  her  father, 
"  that  I've  a  big  retaining  fee  and  can  only  in 
honor  speak  on  the  affirmative  side.  The  ocean 
does  look  very  tempting  to  a  man  who  grew  up 
beside  it  and  now  has  not  seen  it  for  fifteen 
years.  The  type-writer  which  my  good  girls 
gave  me  last  Christmas  has  made  my  work 
doubry  profitable  this  year,  so  I  feel  quite  in 
dependent  and  rich  as  well  as  these  purse-proud 
young  women,"  and  he  looked  fondly  at  his 
daughters. 

"It  really  does  seem  providential  that  our 
boarders  have  gone  East  this  summer,"  said  the 
mother,  as  if  thinking  aloud.  Then  she  added 
apologetically  :  "  It  seems  a  shame  to  speak  of 
them  as  boarders, — our  dear  old  friends  who 
have  made  their  home  with  us  so  long.  Nobody 
will  be  gladder  to  see  them  safely  back  than  I. 
What  a  blessing  the  good  old  pair  have  been  to 
us  all  these  years  ! " 

"Well,  it's  settled,  isn't  it?"  cried  Fred, 
hardly  waiting  for  his  mother  to  finish  her  re 
flections. 

Kate  nodded,  and  Fred's  hat  went  up  in  the 


132  KATE  THURSTON'S 

air  while  he  made  a  lunge  at  his  pet  sister, 
whom  he  always  regarded  as  the  lawful  object 
for  his  somewhat  violent  caresses. 

"  Yes,  it  is  settled,"  said  Mary,  always  practi 
cal  and  serious;  "now,  who  has  to  have  any 
thing  new  ?  " 

"New!"  cried  Kate;  "now  that  shows  how 
little  you  know  about  Pacific  Grove  and  Monte 
rey  !  Why  it's  the  place  of  all  the  world  to  wear 
out  your  old  clothes.  It's  simply  idyllic.  We 
all  get  to  looking  like  Quakers,  so  calm  and 
peaceful, — free  from  the  racking  care  of  finery. 
Mother's  immortal  gray  camel's  hair  is  just  the 
thing,  and  my  brown  serge  that  I've  worn  all 
winter  in  school  is  almost  too  good  !  Positively ; 
Mary,  I'm  afraid  you  haven't  anything  quite  old 
enough  to  be  up  to  the  grove  standards,  and 
you're  too  tall  for  my  ancient  garments.  Per 
haps,  though,  one  well-dressed  individual  may 
give  the  family  a  certain  tone.  Yes,  Mary,  on 
the  whole  you  needn't  stay  at  home  on  this 
account." 

She  stood  up  and  ran  her  fingers  through  her 
father's  gray  hair  with:  "We've  gained  our 


CHAUTAUQ.UA  CIRCLES.  133 

point,  haven't  we,  papa?  And  two  weeks  from 
to-day,  dear  papa,  we'll  be  in  Pacific  Grove 
watching  old  ocean." 

"  You  mean  you've  gained  your  point,  Katie," 
answered  her  father,  drawing  her  face  down  for 
half  a  dozen  kisses. 

Two  weeks  of  busy  preparation  followed,  and 
then  it  came  to  pass  that  on  the  evening  of 
June  25th  the  Thurstons  were  all  deposited  be 
fore  one  of  the  little  tent  cottages  of  Pacific 
Grove.  Kate,  who  had  naturally  taken  the 
helm  in  the  planning  and  management  of  the 
enterprise,  and  whose  familiarity  with  the 
Grove  gave  her  still  greater  prerogatives,  un 
locked  the  tent  door  and  ushered  in  the  family 
with  great  airs  of  proprietorship.  The  room  was 
about  fourteen  by  sixteen  feet  and  contained 
two  double  beds  and  a  cot,  a  little  stove,  a  stand, 
and  three  chairs.  At  the  rear  was  a  canvas- 
covered  kitchen  with  cooking  stove,  pine  table, 
and  a  cupboard  scantily  supplied  with  dishes 
and  cooking  utensils.  The  beds  looked  neat  and 
proved  most  comfortable,  while  bright  colored 
chintz  curtains  surrounding  each  gave  them,  as 


134  KATE   THURSTON'S 

Kate  said,  "  a  certain  degree  of  seclusion."  The 
whole  arrangement  would  have  been  poverty- 
stricken  enough  anywhere  else,  but  here  it  was 
ample  for  their  needs,  and  the  dusty  travelers 
proceeded  to  unpack  and  arrange  their  limited 
personal  effects,  while  Kate,  capturing  Fred  for 
an  escort,  ran  out,  as  she  said,  "to  set  the  tide 
towards  them  " — the  tide  of  needful  supplies — 
milkman,  baker,  butcher,  fish  vender,  and  last 
but  not  least,  the  delicious  cool  soft  water  from 
Carmel  River  had  to  be  turned  on  so  as  to  reach 
their  special  pipe  and  faucet. 

"We  are  just  to  sleep  and  eat  here,"  ordained 
Mistress  Kate,  after  they  had  enjoyed  a  refresh 
ing  cup  of  tea,  with  bread  and  butter  fit  for  a 
king,  and  raspberries  better  than  most  kings 
can  have  for  love  or  money.  "  The  order  is  im 
perative  that  every  possible  moment  is  to  be 
spent  out  of  doors." 

The  voice  of  the  sea  was  calling  them  even 
now,  but  Fred  alone  was  fresh  enough  for  a  run 
along  the  shore  that  evening.  Every  one  of 
them,  however,  felt  the  delightful  invigorating 
influence  of  the  air,  and  could  hardly  settle 


CHAUTAUqUA   CIRCLES.  135 

down  to  eat  or  sleep.  Indeed  the  roar  of 
many  waters  kept  them  all  awake  except  Fred. 
It  was  really  pathetic  to  Kate  to  see  how  her 
father's  blood  was  stirred.  He  had  leaned  from 
the  car  window  as  they  approached  Monterey 
to  catch  the  first  glimpse  of  the  water,  and  with 
as  keen  delight  as  the  old  Greeks  felt  on  their 
return  from  their  long  inland  march,  he  kept 
exclaiming,  "The  sea!  the  sea!"  as  they 
drove  over  from  Monterey  Station  to  the  Grove 
around  the  beautiful  curve  of  Monterey  Bay. 
Nor  could  he  help  listening  all  night  long  to  the 
clamorous  waves.  He  could  scarcely  wait  for 
daylight  before  answering  their  call.  Toward 
morning  he  half  slept  and  dreamed  he  was  a 
boy  again  by  old  Penobscot  Bay.  He  heard  the 
long  ago  voices  of  father  and  mother,  brothers 
and  sisters.  Then  he  was  out  on  the  water  and 
could  feel  the  billows  rocking  under  his  little 
boat.  He  woke  thinking  he  was  running  up 
the  hill  after  his  fishing-tackle  while  his 
brothers  were  baling  the  water  out  of  the  some 
what  leaky  little  craft. 
Mrs.  Thurston  also  lay  awake  and  could 


136  KATE   THURSTON'S 

scarcely  divest  herself  of  the  thought  that  she 
too  was  in  the  home  of  her  youth  and  that  a 
wild  Maine  northeaster  was  blowing  in  great 
wintry  gusts  against  the  house. 

Early  in  the  morning  Mr.  Thurston  set  forth 
before  any  one  else  was  stirring,  and  when  he 
came  back  at  breakfast  with  a  bright  color  in 
his  face  and  his  hands  full  of  shells,  he  was  met 
with  a  chorus  of  accusation  :  "  You  forgot  your 
cane  !  You  forgot  your  cane  ! "  And  sure  enough 
there  stood  his  "main-stay  and  dependence  "  in 
its  place  behind  the  door,  and  he  had  never 
missed  it  I 

"  Mind-cure  !  "  shouted  Fred. 

"Sea-cure!"  said  Kate,  drawing  her  father 
into  the  kitchen  and  seating  him  at  the  table 
while  she  proceeded  to  sit  on  an  inverted  box 
beside  him  and  help  him  to  mush  in  a  cracked 
saucer,  and  to  coffee  in  a  cup  minus  the  usual 
foundation  of  a  saucer. 

"Nobody  can  have  two  saucers  at  once,"  she 
said;  "we'll  soon  find  out  in  what  prodigal 
luxury  we  live  at  home."  Then,  as  Mr.  Thurs 
ton  produced  from  his  pockets  a  dozen  beautiful 


CHAUTAUQUA   CIRCLES.  137 

limpet  shells  clean  and  shining :  "  Butter 
dishes.  Individual  butter  dishes ! "  she  ex 
claimed,  running  to  give  them  a  final  rinse. 
"  '  Sweet  are  the  uses  of  adversity ' ;  we  shall  all 
become  inventive  geniuses.  Look  at  the  sumptu 
ous  divan  your  old  trunk  makes  !  Behold  that 
old  barrel  which  some  past  tenant  left — after 
breakfast  I  shall  wave  my  wand  over  it  and  it 
will  become  an  elegant  toilet  table  !  When  the 
genius  of  the  place  seizes  you,  papa,  we  shall 
fairly  bristle  with  inventions,  and  mamma  will 
wonder  why  you  have  never  been  heard  of  in 
the  patent  office  at  Washington." 

As  soon  as  the  breakfast  was  over,  Fred  took 
hold  of  the  dish-washing  with  unwonted  alacrity 
while  his  sister  hurried  around  to  help  their 
mother  with  regulating  the  tent,  and  then, 
having  succeeded  in  tying  a  shade  hat  on  the  head 
of  that  somewhat  reluctant  woman,  and  hang 
ing  a  blanket  shawl  over  her  arm  in  case  the 
breeze  should  prove  too  cool,  Kate  fairly  drove 
her  mother  off  for  a  stroll  on  the  beach  with  her 
father.  Fred  followed  in  exuberant  happi 
ness,  while  Kate  put  on  her  hat  and  went  up  to 


138  KATE   THUJRSTON'S 

the  office  to  register  the  Thurston  family  and  to 
look  for  familiar  names.  At  almost  every  turn 
she  met  some  one  whom  she  had  known  more 
or  less  in  the  summers  gone  by,  and  stopped  for 
pleasant  words  of  greeting.  At  the  office  she 
ran  down  the  pages  of  arrivals  and  found  not  a 
single  San  Benito  name.  It  was  hardly  time 
for  them  yet,  she  thought,  yet  she  hoped  to  find 
one  or  two.  She  wrote  her  own  list  of  names 
with  their  tent  number,  and  then  strolled 
toward  the  beach.  The  day  was  clear  and 
warm.  The  pines  cast  cool,  deep  shadows 
across  her  path  and  ever  before  her  shone  the 
blue  waters  of  the  bay.  It  seemed  to  her  nothing 
in  the  world  could  be  more  beautiful  than  these 
tree-crowned  cliffs,  this  lovely  expanse  of  softly 
heaving  water,  with  little  sail  boats  dotting  it 
here  and  there,  and  far  off  the  misty  blue  ranges 
of  the  Coast  Mountains.  She  thought  of  the  de 
light  and  refreshment  these  scenes  were  giving 
her  father  and  mother  and  young  brother,  and 
how,  when  her  dear  Mary  came  there  would  be 
nothing  more  to  desire — her  happiness  would  be 
complete.  Then  a  quick  little  blush  ran  over 


CHAUTAUqUA    CIRCLES.  139 

her  face  as  if  she  were  conscious  of  another  wish 
which  as  yet  she  had  scarcely  breathed  to  herself. 
Suddenly  a  joyous  cry  of  "  Miss  Kate  !  Miss 
Kate!"  startled  her,  and  she  saw  the  sturdy 
figure  of  little  John  Leib  on  a  side  street,  but 
instead  of  running  toward  her  he  wheeled  and 
ran  the  other  way,  evidently  scampering  off  to 
convey  the  glad  news  of  her  discovery.  He  ran 
toward  a  cluster  of  tents  on  that  part  of  the 
grounds  set  aside  for  campers,  and  "  Miss  Kate  " 
followed  him  with  all  haste.  In  a  moment 
more  she  was  surrounded  by  a  bevy  of  her 
Chautauquans  who  fairly  overwhelmed  her 
with  their  welcomings.  She  was  plied  with 
questions  and  drawn  hither  and  thither  to  look 
at  the  new  edition  of  San  Benito.  It  seemed 
they  had  all  come  over  two  days  before,  some  by 
the  train  and  others  with  their  own  convey 
ances,  but  in  the  hurry  of  putting  up  tents  and 
getting  settled  had  neglected  to  register.  "  Be 
sides,"  said  John  Thompson,  "we're  going  to 
proclaim  to  the  world  that  we're  the  San  Benito 
C.  L.  S.  C.,  and  we  want  our  President  to  head 
the  list." 


140  KATE   THURSTON'S 

"  Indeed,  I'll  be  only  too  proud  to  write  my 
name  there.  I'll  get  them  to  let  me  cross  it  out 
from  its  present  humble  place  as  a  member  of  a 
private  family,"  laughed  Kate,  "  and  I'll  come 
out  at  the  top  of  your  names  with  all  my  titles 
in  big  letters.'' 

It  was  a  gay  little  encampment  into  which 
she  was  now  ushered.  In  one  tent  the  Leib 
family  was  nicely  domiciled  with  matting  on 
the  ground,  straw  beds  neatly  made  up  on  the 
matting,  and  a  little  room  left  to  circulate 
around  in.  The  Brooks  family  had  a  similar 
arrangement ;  another  family  had  a  finer  outfit 
in  the  way  of  canvas  floor,  camp  beds,  chairs 
and  tables,  with  quite  an  array  of  curtains  and 
home-like  conveniences.  Two  large  tents  com 
pleted  the  settlement ;  in  one  of  which  half  a 
dozen  young  ladies  made  a  merry  community, 
the  other  contained  a  long  table  and  was  the 
common  dining-hall  of  the  encampment.  A 
little  distance  off  was  a  small  inclosure  with 
canvas  sides  but  open  to  the  sky  overhead,  and 
here  was  a  large  cooking  stove  presided  over  by 
a  white  aproned  Chinaman,  who  cooked  for  the 


CHAUTAUQUA     CIRCLES.  141 

whole  community,  and  who  seemed  as  much  in 
his  element  as  any  of  the  party.  Bread,  pies, 
and  cakes  were  bought  at  the  restaurant  or  of 
venders,  but  all  else  was  concocted  by  "  John  " 
and  served  up  in  fine  style  and  large  quantities 
three  times  a  day.  When  John  rang  his  bell 
every  body  took  his  or  her  camp  stool  or  box 
and  proceeded  to  be  seated  in  orderly  fashion 
in  the  dining  tent. 

Several  young  men  had  come  with  the  party 
and  had  found  furnished  rooms  near  by. 

"  Altogether  we  count  up  twenty-five,  and  we 
are  very  fine  feeling  peoples  whether  we  are  fine 
looking  or  not,"  said  Mr.  Leib. 

"  Ah,  you  are  fishing  for  a  compliment  about 
your  good  looks,"  said  Kate.  "  I  shall  not  tell 
you  all  I  think  about  that,  but  I  shall  be  proud 
to  head  the  procession  up  to  the  office." 

And  so  they  set  forth,  Kate  walking  ahead 
with  Mrs.  Brooks,  and  all  the  rest  following  in 
long  array,  the  young  men  and  maidens  bring 
ing  up  the  rear.  Amid  much  pleasant  jesting 
and  laughter  they  registered  first  at  the  general 
office  and  then  at  the  Chautauqua  headquarters, 


142  KATE   THURSTON'S 

where  they  were  duly  introduced  to  the  Secre 
tary  and  Treasurer  and  made  cordially  welcome 
to  all  Chautauqua  honors  and  privileges.  They 
were  instructed  to  wear  a  live-oak  spray  as  a 
badge  of  their  C.  L.  8.  C.  membership,  and  to 
be  sociable  with  all  Chautauquans,  which  they 
fully  resolved  to  do. 

On  their  way  to  the  office  Mrs.  Brooks  had 
given  her  escort  several  pieces  of  information  in 
regard  to  her  San  Benito  friends  about  whom 
she  had  made  eager  inquiries.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Chapman  were  not  coming  as  their  little  people 
were  not  quite  old  enough  to  be  taken  care  of 
comfortably  away  from  home.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Fiske  might  possibly  appear  for  the  last  day  or 
two,  but  were  going  with  San  Francisco  friends 
to  Lake  Tahoe  about  this  time. 

1  'And  Dr.  Hall— you  haven't  asked  about  him, ' ' 
said  Mrs.  Brooks,  "and  maybe  you  know  that  his 
mother  is  coming  from  Boston  to  see  him,  and 
last  week  he  went  up  to  San  Francisco  to  meet 
her.  I  met  him  on  the  street  the  day  before  he 
went,  and  asked  him  if  he  was  coming  to  Mon 
terey,  and  he  said  everything  depended  on  his 


CHAUTAUQUA   CIRCLES.  143 

mother  ;  maybe  she'd  like  to  stay  a  few  days  at 
Del  Monte.  There  was  going  to  be  quite  a  party 
of  tourists  and  of  course  they  would  go  to  Del 
Monte.  He  would  be  with  his  mother  as  much 
as  possible,  and  if  they  were  at  Del  Monte  at  the 
right  time  he  would  come  over  to  the  Assembly 
as  much  as  he  could." 

"  How  are  the  Kellets  ?  "  asked  Kate. 

"All  the  same  as  usual,"  answered  Mrs. 
Brooks,  "  except  Willie  ;  he's  sort  of  white  and 
drooping  this  warm  weather." 

"  I  wish  he  could  be  set  down  here  by  the 
sea,"  said  Kate  fervently,  and  the  first  little 
shadow  fell  across  her  morning  sunshine. 

A  young  live-oak  tree  was  making  a  struggle  for 
existence  between  two  of  the  cottages  near  the 
large  entrance  gate,  and  hither  Miss  Thurston  led 
her  friends  to  obtain  the  required  badges.  A  gen 
eral  search  for  pins  ensued,  followed  by  a  leafing 
out  of  the  whole  party.  There  were  the  usual 
remarks  about  the  verdant  badge  being  appropri 
ate  and  becoming,  and  as  they  were  generally  in 
a  hilarious  mood  everybody  laughed  at  these 
original  witticisms  longer  and  louder  than  usual. 


144  KATE  THURSTON'S 

The  group  were  at  their  noisiest,  John  Thomp 
son  having  suggested  that  he  should  have  a 
dozen  leaves  put  on  just  between  his  shoulders 
in  the  form  of  a  horseshoe  to  advertise  his  pro 
fession  as  well  as  his  Chautauqua  membership, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  aesthetic  character  of  the 
ornamentation  ;  when  suddenly  there  rolled  in 
at  the  gate  an  elegant  Del  Monte  carriage  full  of 
ladies  and  gentlemen  who  were  evidently  going 
to  "do"  the  Grove.  The  Chautauquans  were 
too  conspicuous  to  escape  attention  and  upon 
them  was  turned  what  John  afterward  des 
cribed  as  "  the  Del  Monte  glare." 

On  the  back  seat  of  the  barouche  was  a  fine 
looking  elderly  lady  in  widow's  dress,  and  be 
side  her  sat  a  slender  aristocratic  young  lady 
who  put  up  an  eye-glass  with  a  beautifully 
gloved  hand.  One  of  the  gentlemen  sitting 
opposite  with  his  back  to  the  San  Benito  group 
turned  to  look  when  he  saw  that  eye-glass  going 
into  place,  and  gave  a  little  start,  colored  per 
ceptibly,  and  then  raised  his  hat  with  a  quick 
acknowledgment  of  acquaintance,  while  just 
the  faintest  tinge  of  surprise  or  embarrassment 


CHAUTAUQUA  CIRCLES.  145 

held  in  check  any  overflow  of  cordial  greeting. 

Meanwhile  Kate,  who  was  pinning  on  Mrs. 
Brooks'  badge,  and  who  had  taken  off  her 
gloves  and  was  looking  very  rustic  in  her  morn 
ing  attire,  glanced  up  to  see  what  spell  had 
fallen  upon  her  friends,  and  flushed  crimson. 
She  did  not  even  return  the  gentleman's  bow,  as 
nearly  as  she  could  afterward  remember,  but 
dropped  her  eyes  before  that  critical  Boston  eye 
glass  and  jabbed  the  pin  into  Mrs.  Brooks  with 
such  energy  as  to  wring  from  even  that  patient 
soul  a  cry  of  distress. 

"Oh,  I  beg  a  thousand  pardons,  dear  Mrs. 
Brooks!"  she  cried  penitently,  while  she  was 
inwardly  feeling  she  could  cheerfully  stick  a 
thousand  pins  into  herself  as  a  punishment  for 
that  ridiculous  blush. 

She  walked  along  with  her  friends  as  they 
turned  back  homeward,  and  made  a  desperate 
effort  not  to  show  a  ruffled  spirit  as  they  dis 
cussed  Dr.  Hall  and  Del  Monte  people  gener 
ally. 

"I  'spose  that's  the  style  of  people  he's  been 
used  to,"  said  Martha  Brooks. 


146  KATE   THURSTON'8 

"Too  high-toned  for  Chautauquans,"  said 
John  Thompson. 

"I'm  sure  he  bowed  to  us  friendly  enough," 
said  Christian  Leib.  "What  would  you  haf, 
John  ?  A  man  can  ride  in  a  fine  carriage  with 
fine  peoples  and  not  be  foolish-proud,  either.  I 
do  not  like  dis  way  of  speaking,"  his  tongue 
slipping  into  its  old  ways  as  it  was  inclined  to 
do  when  he  was  excited. 

Kate  thanked  him  in  her  heart,  but  what 
she  said  was :  "  Now  is  the  time  to  see  the 
bathers.  You  must  all  go  right  down  to  the 
bathing  beach,  but  I  must  hurry  home  to  set 
our  dinner  going.  I'll  see  you  all  again  by  and 
hy." 

She  turned  quickly  off  from  the  main  street 
and  almost  ran  toward  her  little  tent  home,  in 
momentary  fear  lest  she  should  again  encounter 
that  Del  Monte  carriage.  Once  safely  within 
the  door  she  sat  down  and  scolded  herself  with 
an  energy  and  fervor  such  as  she  had  never  be 
stowed  upon  her  most  refractory  pupil.  She 
did  not  hesitate  to  call  herself  a  goose  and  an 
idiot !  She  accused  herself  of  nonsensical  ideas 


CHAUTAUQUA   CIRCLES.  147 

of  half  a  dozen  different  sorts  and  finally  of 
base  disloyalty  to  her  own  standards. 

"  I'd  like  to  see  you  behave  in  that  way  again, 
Kate  Thurston,"  -she  remarked,  as  she  stood 
herself  oft  like  the  culprit  she  was — "flaming  up 
like  a  red  hollyhock  just  because  a  gentleman 
bows  to  you,  and  hating  yourself,  and  your  old 
shabby  clothes,  and  even  your  honest  friends 
just  because  somebody  else  is— is  different ! " 

She  seemed  to  think  after  a  little  that  she  had 
thoroughly  disciplined  and  subdued  this  offend 
ing  young  woman,  and  fell  to  preparing  dinner 
with  a  zest  which  was  most  commendable,  both 
as  a  quietus  to  her  own  disturbed  spirit  and  as  a 
source  of  gratification  to  a  hungry  family  who 
appeared  upon  the  scene  promptly  at  twelve 
o'clock. 

Yet  the  whole  afternoon,  and  even  far  into  the 
night,  Kate's  soul  was  disquieted  within  her, 
and  she  kept  seeing  a  delicate  fair  young  lady 
in  a  soft  gray  travelling  dress,  with  hat  and 
gloves  exactly  to  match,  and  with  a  filmy  blue 
veil  holding  down  her  blonde  frizzes,  gazing 
fixedly  at  her  through  a  pair  of  gold-rimmed 


148  KATE  THURSTON'S 

eye-glasses.  Sometimes,  too,  the  vision  had  a 
tendency  to  grow  double,  and  a  young  man  with 
a  grave  and  slightly  perplexed  face  lifted  his 
hat  to  her  in  polite  recognition. 

It  was  in  vain  that  she  took  her  father  and 
mother  to  call  on  her  Chautauquans,  and  en 
joyed  their  evident  mutual  appreciation. 

It  was  equally  unavailing  that  she  took  several 
of  her  friends  on  a  walk  to  the  lighthouse  and 
shared  as  far  as  possible  their  delight  in  the 
wild  and  rugged  scenery  of  Point  Pinos  and  the 
great  billows  of  the  ocean  which  break  cease 
lessly  over  that  rocky  promontory. 

She  was  secretly  haunted,  and  the  spirits 
would  not  down  at  her  bidding. 

In  the  Del  Monte  carriage  as  it  whirled  along 
there  was  also  some  comment  and  subsequent 
disturbance. 

"What  extraordinary  looking  people!"  said 
the  young  lady,  dropping  her  eye-glasses  with 
slow  grace,  and  elevating  her  eyebrows. 

"Why,  my  dear,  Philip  bowed  to  them,"  said 
the  elder  lady  reprovingly  yet  mildly. 

"  They  are  acquaintances  of  mine  from  San 


CHAUTAUqUA    CIRCLES.  149 

Benito,"  said  Dr.  Hall  in  explanation,  giving 
his  moustache  a  fierce  pull  afterward  to  punish 
himself  for  saying  acquaintances  instead  of 
friends. 

"Yes?  "  inquired  the  young  lady.  "  A  phy 
sician  has  to  have  patients  from  every  class,  I 
suppose,  but  it  must  be  very  tiresome"  ;  and 
she  let  her  languid  eyes  rest  sympathizingly 
upon  her  cousin's  face. 

He  made  no  reply,  but  the  shade  of  annoy 
ance  deepened  rather  than  disappeared,  as  the 
gentleman  who  shared  the  seat  with  him,  re 
marked,  "  That  was  rather  a  nice  looking  girl  in 
the  brown  dress — the  one  with  the  fine  color, 
you  know.  I  say,  Hall,  she  wouldn't  be  a  bad 
patient." 

"  They  are  my  friends,"  said  Dr.  Hall,  with 
almost  savage  emphasis. 

The  young  lady's  eyebrows  went  up  again, 
while  the  discomfited  young  man  gazed  at  the 
revolving  wheels  with  an  interest  which 
amounted  to  a  scientific  investigation.  The 
elder  lady  made  a  prompt  diversion  by  asking 
her  son  the  meaning  of  the  arches  under  which 


150  KATE  THURSTON'S 

they  drove,  and  he  explained  briefly  the  Chan- 
tauqua  Society  and  its  annual  Assemblies. 

"Ah,  yes,"  she  said,  "  I  understand.  Gene- 
vieve,  it  is  like  our  Boston  Society  for  the  Pro 
motion  of  Home  Study." 

But  Genevieve  was  still  musing  upon  her 
cousin's  emphatic  statement,  and  fell  back  upon 
her  standing  reply  to  all  sorts  of  information, 
especially  if  she  questioned  the  "  good  form  "  of 
the  matter  involved.  ' '  Yes  ? ' ' 

"I  am  a  member  of  the  Society  and  have  found 
it  pleasant  and  useful,"  said  Dr.  Hall,  still  ad 
dressing  his  mother.  "I  hope  to  come  over 
here  again  while  you  are  at  Del  Monte  and  shall 
be  glad  to  have  you  attend  some  of  the  lectures 
with  me.  They  will  be  well  worth  hearing  if 
they're  not  in  Tremont  Temple.  But  I  fear  my 
little  typhoid  patient  will  keep  me  closely  in 
San  Benito  next  week.  I  must  not  even  spend 
Sunday  with  you  as  I  hoped  to  do.  My  letter 
to-day  makes  me  feel  that  I  must  go  back  on  the 
first  train.  We  shall  barely  have  time  for  a 
lunch  before  I  must  go." 

Mrs.  Hall  looked  at  him  with  fond  maternal 


CHAUTAUQUA     CIRCLES.  161 

eyes :  "I  can  hardly  realize  that  my  boy  has 
grown  into  a  man  full  of  cares  and  responsibil 
ities,"  she  said,  "  but  I  suppose  I  ought  to  be 
very  thankful  for  the  days  you  have  given  me 
already.  I  cannot  bear  to  lose  sight  of  you  so 
soon  again.  I  would  go  back  with  you  if  I  did 
not  have  to  chaperone  my  young  ladies.  Pardon 
me,  Genevieve,  I  did  not  mean  to  speak  of  you 
and  your  friends  as  burdensome,"  and  she  laid 
her  hand  gently  on  her  niece's  with  a  fine 
courtesy  of  look  and  tone  which  seemed  to 
characterize  all  her  words  and  movements,  and 
which  gave  an  added  charm  to  her  beautiful 
age. 

They  drove  rapidly  toward  Del  Monte,  after  a 
half  hour  in  the  pleasant  avenues  of  the  Grove, 
and  an  hour  later  Dr.  Hall  was  on  the  railway 
train.  He  had  a  book  which  he  tried  to  read. 
ItwasEbers'  "Homo  Sum,"  and  he  had  been 
greatly  interested,  but  he  found  it  impossible 
now  to  keep  his  place.  He,  too,  was  haunted  by 
a  vision,  but  his  was  a  bright  girlish  face  under 
a  broad  shade  hat.  Something  suddenly  deepens 
its  tints  to  carmine  and  robs  its  owner  of  her 


152  KATE  THURSTON'8 

usual  self-possession,  but  the  face  never  looked 
lovelier  to  him.  Then  the  kind,  honest,  friendly 
faces  which  were  grouped  around  this  central 
figure,  floated  before  him.  They  had  all  grown 
familiar  and  pleasant  to  this  fastidious  young 
man,  whom  contact  with  the  world  had  taught 
to  estimate  people  far  more  justly  than  by  his 
old  standards.  He  felt  warm  and  angry  still 
with  his  classmate  who  had  sat  beside  him  on 
the  morning  drive  and  whom  his  cousin  Gene- 
vieve  considered  a  perfect  gentleman:  "The 
impertinent  puppy,"  he  thought.  "Christian 
lieib  would  be  too  delicate  and  chivalrous  to 
make  such  a  remark  about  a  young  lady — so 
would  John  Thompson  even.  What  did  this 
caste  business  amount  to  anyway?  "And  yet — 
and  yet  he  was  not  insensible  to  the  charm  of 
fine  raiment,  of  slow,  leisureful  movements, — 

The  air  of  high  repose, 

Which  marks  the  caste  of  Vere  de  Vere." 

He  reached  the  San  Benito  Station  early  in 
the  afternoon  and  hurried  to  the  bedside  of  the 
sick  child  whom  he  had  left  a  few  days  before 
out  of  danger  as  he  then  hoped,  but  whom  a 


CHAUTAUQUA   CIRCLES.  163 

slight  cold  had  sent  back  into  fever  and  delirium. 
Until  late  in  the  night  he  forgot  everything  but 
the  little  sufferer,  and  devoted  himself  unre 
mittingly  to  his  relief.  Then  he  threw  himself 
on  his  bed  exhausted  in  body  and  mind  and 
tried  to  sleep.  Lo,  there  was  the  girlish  face 
again,  startled,  conscious,  blushing,  "  growing 
and  fading  and  growing."  The  morning  was 
red  in  the  East  before  he  forgot  himself  and  all 
the  world. 

Ten  days  elapsed  before  his  patient  was  suffi 
ciently  convalescent  for  Dr.  Hall  to  visit  his 
mother.  Meanwhile  he  had  won  for  himself 
the  boundless  gratitude  of  one  household  and  a 
reputation  for  fidelity  and  skill  which  spread 
far  and  wide  through  the  whole  community. 

Another  patient  that  same  week  had  claimed 
a  large  place  in  the  young  physician's  time  and 
sympathy.  Willie  Kellett  had  a  serious  hemor 
rhage  from  the  lungs,  and  lay  weak  and  pallid 
on  his  narrow  bed.  His  eyes  looked  larger  and 
brighter  than  ever  and  he  was  very  patient — 
even  cheerful.  The  Doctor  came  every  day 
once  and  sometimes  twice,  always  bringing 


154  KATE   THURSTON>8 

some  delicate  fruit  or  beautiful  flower,  and  in 
every  way  showing  that  he  came  as  a  friend  as 
well  as  a  physician.  The  boy  had  been  interest 
ing  to  him  always,  now  he  took  hold  of  his 
heart ;  but  he  could  not  hide  from  himself  that 
the  little  taper  of  Willie's  life  was  flickering 
ominously  and  that  some  day  ere  long  a  breath 
might  end  it.  The  boy's  keen  eyes  read  it  all  in 
his  friend's  face  and  yet  he  smiled  up  at  him 
with  his  old-tune  confidence. 

When  the  Doctor  oame  to  say  good-by  to 
Willie  for  a  few  days,  as  he  was  going  to  Monte 
rey,  they  had  quite  a  little  talk  in  the  twilight 
all  by  themselves.  The  Doctor  spoke  in  his 
usual  cheerful  way:  "Now,  Willie,  keep  up 
your  courage — though  you're  such  a  plucky  fel 
low  I  hardly  need  to  say  that.  Take  your  tonic 
regularly  and  we'll  have  you  up  in  your  chair 
again  pretty  soon,  I  hope." 

But  Willie  laid  his  thin  hand  in  the  Doctor's 
and  said,  "  You  believe  in  God  and  in  Heaven, 
don't  you,  Doctor?  " 

"Yes,  Willie,  I  do;  thank  God,  I  do,"  he 
said  fervently. 


CHAUTAUqUA   CIRCLES.  155 

Then  Willie  was  still  for  a  little  while.  "  Will 
you  see  Miss  Elate  down  at  Monterey?"  he 
asked  at  length. 

"Yes,  my  boy,  I  hope  so." 

"  Will  you  tell  her,"  he  said  slowly,  "  that 
nobody  has  ever  helped  me  as  she  has,  but  I 
would  rather  go  to  heaven  than  to  graduate  in 
Chautauqua  or  to  be  a  famous  wood-carver, — and 
give  her  my  dear  love." 

Another  pause  and  then,  "I  used  to  be  very 
im patient  and  sometimes  very  wretched,  Doctor, 
before  I  knew  Miss  Kate,  but  somehow  every 
thing  has  seemed  different  to  me  since,  especially 
God,  and  our  lives  here,  and  Heaven." 

"  It  is  just  the  same  with  me,"  said  Dr.  Hall, 
and  his  voice  had  a  wonderful  earnestness, 
"  God  bless  her." 

"Yes,"  responded  Willie,  "God  bless  her!" 


CHAPTEE  IX. 

THE  FRIENDS'  MEETING. 

SUNDAY  is  a  most  restful  day  at  Pacific  Grove 
and  the  Thurstons,  after  all  the  fatigue  of  Satur 
day's  excitements  and  excursions,  literally 
bathed  in  its  loveliness.  Not  a  sound  broke  the 
stillness  of  early  morning  save  the  voices  of 
nature.  Linnets  and  canaries  sang  in  the  pine 
boughs  over  the  tent,  now  and  then  changing 
their  perch  for  the  tent  itself  where  their  pretty 
shadows  flickered  to  and  fro  and  their  little  feet 
pattered  about  keeping  time  to  their  music. 
The  morning  breeze  went  whispering  through 
the  pines,  and  the  ocean  kept  up  its  majestic 
bass  solo.  It  seemed  a  typical  Sabbath  day. 

The  Thurstons  ate  their  breakfast  with  doors 
and  windows  open.  There  was  not  a  passer-by 
to  glance  in,  and,  as  the  nearest  tent  was  ten  or 
fifteen  rods  away,  they  were  spared  the  annoy- 


CHAUTAVQUA   CIRCLES.  157 

ance  of  hearing  their  neighbors'  domestic  con 
sultations,  and  also  the  restriction  which  would 
follow  to  themselves  from  knowing  that  what 
they  whispered  in  the  ear  would  be  proclaimed 
through  their  own  thin  walls. 

After  breakfast  at  prayers  Mr.  Thurston  read 
that  grand  sea  poem,  the  104th  Psalm,  and  all 
saw  and  felt  the  "glory  of  the  Lord,"  like  an 
almost  visible  Shekinah,  resting  upon  "the 
great  and  wide  sea." 

At  Monterey  the  year  before  Kate  had  met 
some  delightful  people  who  were  members  of 
the  Society  of  Friends,  and  had  learned  that 
they  were  in  the  habit,  when  in  the  Grove,  of 
holding  a  Friends'  meeting  every  "  First  Day," 
in  a  quiet  little  cove  at  the  east  end  of  the 
grounds.  Knowing  that  the  spirit  of  this  simple 
service  would  harmonize  with  her  fathei  's  habits 
of  thought,  she  suggested  that  this  morning 
they  should  worship  with  these  dear  Friends,  of 
whom  she  had  caught  a  passing  glimpse  the 
day  before.  Mr.  Thurston  cheerfully  acceded 
to  the  plan,  and  Mrs.  Thurston  never  needed 
any  urging  to  go  where  her  good  husband 


158  KATE   THURSTON'S 

and  daughter  led  the  way,  while  Fred's  vote 
was  always  in  favor  of  a  novelty. 

In  good  season  they  all  went.  They  found 
already  a  few  of  the  gentle  followers  of  George 
Fox  sitting  on  the  clear  white  sand  with  faces 
expressive  of  meditative  calm,  but  these  proved 
only  the  nucleus  of  the  meeting,  for,  dropping 
down  the  steep  rocky  pathways,  came  singly  or 
hi  little  parties  fresh  accessions  to  the  gathering 
until  perhaps  fifty  people — men  and  women 
and  little  children — were  grouped  about  the 
Friends.  Many  sects  were  represented  there 
and  widely  varying  conditions  of  life.  The 
Episcopalian  sat  beside  the  Methodist ;  the  wife 
of  the  millionaire  shared  her  rug  with  the  sew 
ing  girl,  and  all  looked  alike  serious  and  rever 
ent.  The  little  children  caught  the  spirit  and 
sat  with  clasped  hands  looking  down  at  the 
sparkling  sand  or  off  at  the  softly  heaving  sea. 
The  silence  was  more  impressive  than  any 
opening  anthem.  For  ten  minutes  there  was  no 
spoken  word.  Each  heart  communed  with 
itself  and  was  still.  Then  the  low  voice  of  a 
woman  broke  the  silence  with  earnest  words  of 


GHAUTAUQ,UA  CIRCLES.  159 

prayer, — a  prayer  which  even  the  youngest 
present  could  follow  in  its  devout  expressions  of 
gratitude,  its  glad  tribute  of  praise  and  adoration, 
its  earnest  plea  for  forgiveness,  and  its  entreaty 
for  spiritual  blessing  on  the  little  company 
gathered  there,  and  on  the  whole  world.  The 
Kingdom  of  Heaven  seemed  very  near,  and  the 
Unseen  and  Eternal  as  real  as  the  morning  sun 
shine.  After  a  little  silence  the  same  voice  went 
on  speaking  of  thoughts  which  had  been  sug 
gested  by  the  reading  of  the  Word  in  a  still 
hour  of  the  early  morning.  The  Scripture  re 
ferred  to  was : 

"  If  any  man  hear  my  voice  and  open  the  door 
I  will  come  in  to  him  and  will  sup  with  him 
and  he  with  me." 

With  the  same  simplicity  and  beauty  of  dic 
tion  which  marked  the  prayer,  and  with  a 
scarcely  perceptible  chanting  tone,  the  Friend 
spoke  of  the  blessings  which  come  to  the  re 
ceptive  heart.  She  described  in  winning  terms 
the  lowly  attitude  of  the  Heavenly  Visitor  and 
how  the  spirit  may  know  its  Divine  Guest. 
"Just  as  the  listening  ear  hears  the  sweet 


160  KATE   THURSTON'S 

sounds  of  this  June  morning,"  she  said,  "while 
to  the  dull  or  inattentive  ear  all  this  delight  is 
lost,  so  to  the  quiet,  thoughtful,  listening  soul 
comes  the  voice  of  the  Spirit.  A  gracious  hospi 
tality  flings  wide  the  door  and  all  Heaven  enters 
in." 

The  little  sermon  with  its  familiar  illustra 
tions  sank  deeply  into  every  heart.  Another 
brief  silence  followed  in  which  it  seemed  as  if  at 
many  a  hidden  door  that  quiet  petition  for  ad 
mittance  must  have  been  heard  and  answered. 
Then  a  gray-haired  man  spoke  of  the  good 
providence  of  God  to  which  every  one  present 
could  bear  witness.  He  reminded  all  of  the 
widely  separated  homes  wherein  they  had  be 
gun  the  journey  of  life.  Thousands  of  miles 
and  even  the  broad  ocean,  had  divided  these 
starting  places.  Perils  by  land  and  by  sea  had 
beset  their  pathways.  Temporal  and  spiritual 
dangers  had  encompassed  each,  yet  here  were 
all  the  paths  converged.  Here  in  peace  and 
safety  were  all  the  pilgrims  gathered.  His 
voice  hesitated,  a  little  flush  ran  over  his  fine 
delicate  face,  and  then  he  recited  some  verses, 


CHAUTAUqUA    CIRCLES.  161 

which,  when  Mr.  Thurston  at  the  close  of  the 
meeting  inquired  about,  he  found  were  original 
with  this  Friend.  The  poem  was: 

A  PRAYBR. 

God  of  our  lives,  past  and  to  be, 
God  of  the  earth,  the  land,  the  sea, 
With  all  Thy  works  we  worship  Thee. 

In  humble  faith  our  souls  would  bear, 
To  Thee  our  every  weight  of  care, 
And  all  the  burden  of  our  prayer. 

But  with  what  language  can  we  raise 
A  fitting  tribute  to  Thy  praise. 
And  celebrate  Thy  works  and  ways  ? 

Fresh  blessings,  countless  as  the  sand, 
Flow  as  perpetual  from  Thy  hand 
As  do  the  waves  upon  the  strand. 

More  deep  and  boundless  than  the  sea, 
Thy  love  from  all  eternity 
Tides  every  inlet  full  and  free. 

On  this  Pacific  shore  we  meet, 
This  temple-grove  our  pilgrim  feet 
Draws  to  its  sacred  calm  retreat. 

Make  us  to  feel  Thy  presence  near, 
And  with  Thy  goodness  crown  Thy  year 
Whose  harvest  fruits  are  offered  here. 

Our  Feast  of  Tabernacles  bless ; 
Hallow  these  tents  and  cottages 
With  Peace,  and  Joy,  and  Righteousness. 

A  host  from  many  a  church  and  land, 
We  would  with  loyal  heart  and  hand 
For  Christ  our  King  united  stand. 

Thou  who  hast  led  us  all  our  days 
O'er  fertile  plains  and  desert  ways, 
Be  here  an  altar  to  Thy  praise ! 


162  KATE   THURSTON'S 

"  Has  no  one  else  a  message  or  word  of  testi 
mony?  "  asked  the  leader  of  the  meeting. 

In  response  one  after  another  recited  a  hymn 
or  a  text  of  Scripture  or  bit  of  religious  verse, 
even  the  children  sharing  in  this  part  of  the 
service.  Mr.  Thurston  recited  the  beautiful 
description  of  a  storm  at  sea,  of  its  control  by 
the  Lord  of  the  tempest,  and  the  bringing  of  the 
sailor  "to  the  desired  haven,"  from  the  107th 
Psalm.  His  daughter  repeated  Miss  Warner's 
hymn: 

"  Father  I  know  that  all  my  life 

Is  portioned  out  for  me, 
And  the  changes  that  must  surely  come 

I  do  not  fear  to  see, 
But  I  ask  Thee  for  a  present  mind 

Intent  on  pleasing  Thee." 

Every  heart  present  followed  her  as  if  in 
prayer,  and  when  the  sweet  voice  reached  the 
closing  stanza : 

"  In  the  service  which  Thy  love  appoints 

There  are  no  bounds  for  me, 
For  my  secret  soul  is  taught  the  truth 

Which  makes  Thy  children  free, 
And  a  life  of  self-renouncing  love 

Is  a  life  of  liberty," 

there  were  tears  in  more  eyes  than  Miss  Thurs- 
ton's. 


CHAUTAUQUA   CIRCLES.  163 

A  mother  leaned  over  and  whispered  to  a 
dear  little  girl  who  put  her  hand  into  the  ma 
ternal  keeping  to  gain  confidence,  and  then 
recited  in  clear  child-like  accents  : 

"  Oh  what  can  little  hands  do 
To  serve  the  King  of  Heaven  ?  " 

As  she  finished  the  exquisite  verses  the  leader 
of  the  meeting  said  earnestly  : 

"  And  Jesus  called  a  little  child  unto  Him  and 
when  He  had  placed  him  in  their  midst  He  said, 
except  ye  become  as  little  children  ye  shall  in 
no  wise  enter  into  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven." 

The  silence  fell  again.  Through  it  there  came 
the  soft  tones  of  the  chapel  bell  ringing  for  the 
Sunday-school,  and  after  a  moment  the  leader 
shook  hands  with  a  Friend  seated  near  her  and 
the  familiar  greeting  was  passed  on  and  around 
in  quiet  cordiality. 

The  First  Day  meeting  was  ended.  There 
was  a  general  rising  and  dispersion  soon  after, 
but  not  until  Kate  had  introduced  her  father 
and  mother  to  these  Friends  with  whom  a  new 
but  most  hearty  and  appreciative  friendship 
was  then  and  there  inaugurated. 


164  KATE  THURSTON'S 

The  Sunday-school  filled  another  hour  pleas 
antly,  a  few  hours  of  restful  home  life  followed, 
and  then  an  evening  service  in  the  chapel  with 
admirable  preaching  closed  the  Sabbath  Day 
journey  toward  the  Heavenly  Country. 

"Thank  God  for  this  Feast  of  Tabernacles," 
said  Mr.  Thurston  fervently,  as  he  laid  his  head 
on  his  pillow. 

"  It  helps  one  to  understand  the  old  Hebrew 
feasts,"  said  his  wife. 

"Ye  shall  dwell  in  booths  seven  days," 
quoted  Kate  from  behind  her  curtain. 

"I  like  that  kind  of  religion,"  asserted  Fred 
drowsily. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE    CHAUTAUQUA    ASSEMBLY. 

EARLY  Monday  morning  Kate  and  her  brother 
went  up  to  the  Chapel,  which  was  "The  Hall  in 
the  Grove  "  to  the  Monterey  Bay  Chautauquans, 
to  lend  a  hand  in  the  decorations.  They  found 
the  energetic  lady  who  had  it  in  charge  already 
on  the  spot,  and  soon  by  ones  and  twos  the 
Chautauquans  began  to  appear.  Under  their 
skillful  hands,  and  with  the  help  of  a  limitless 
supply  of  young  pines  and  cypress  boughs,  the 
bare  interior  became  a  fragrant  bower.  The 
pines  stood  in  the  corners  and  by  the  upright 
beams  like  straight  young  grenadiers,  while  the 
cypress  ran  in  long  festoons  around  the  walls, 
hung  in  wreaths  about  the  lamp  brackets,  or 
twined  around  the  slender  supporting  columns. 
The  hall  was  really  like  a  great  barn  with  bare 
rafters  and  beams,  but  with  the  help  of  the 


166  KATE  THURSTON'S 

adornment  it  all  seemed  beautiful  and  suitable 
for  the  purpose  of  this  midsummer  encamp 
ment.  Ferns  and  the  delicate  odorous  vine 
known  as  "yerba  buena,"  trimmed  platform 
and  desk,  and  exquisite  bouquets  of  callas, 
fuchsias,  marguerites,  and  pelargoniums,  such 
as  no  other  Assembly  Hall  in  the  world  could 
possibly  show,  gave  the  crowning  touch  to  the 
decorations. 

Elate  worked  with  diligence  all  day  and  ran 
home  warm  and  weary  at  evening,  but  when 
she  came  back  to  the  opening  exercises  of  the 
evening  and  saw  the  whole  effect  when  it 
was  lighted  by  lamps  whose  brilliancy  was 
softened  by  shades  of  tissue  paper,  green,  yellow, 
and  red,  crimped  and  fringed  by  deft  Chautau- 
qua  fingers,  it  seemed  to  her  like  fairyland.  No 
Gothic  cathedral  or  stately  Grecian  temple 
could  have  seemed  to  Kate  Thurston  so  appro 
priate  and  charming  as  this  rustic  and  unpre 
tending  place.  And  here  day  after  day  she 
came,  morning,  afternoon,  and  evening,  always 
with  fresh  pleasure  and  satisfaction.  There 
were  plenty  of  people  who  surveyed  the  whole 


CHAUTAUQUA    CIRCLES.  167 

thing  with  a  sort  of  half- veiled  contempt,  and 
there  were  plenty  of  Chautauquans  even  who 
groaned  over  the  uncushioned  benches,  with 
slatted  backs  which  never  seemed  to  hit  the 
right  point  in  the  backs  which  leaned  against 
them,  but  our  heroine  was  not  of  these. 

And  the  lectures  and  classes  were  to  her  eager 
young  intellect,  which  had  given  and  given 
from  its  stores  all  the  year  long  with  so  little 
leisure  or  opportunity  for  receiving,  like  manna 
from  heaven.  From  the  opening  lecture  by  Dr. 
Anderson,  so  beautiful  and  true  in  thought  and 
feeling,  to  the  last  word  said  at  the  "mussel- 
bake  "  on  the  beach  the  last  day  of  the  Assem 
bly,  to  Kate  it  was  all  good.  Her  note-book  grew 
full  of  food  for  future  thought  and  reference  as 
she  listened  to  Prof.  Bernard  Moses'  fine 
scholarly  lectures  upon  the  Christian  Reforma 
tion  ;  while  even  her  rapid  pencil  gave  up  in 
despair  over  Frederick  Beecher  Perkins'  unfold- 
ings  of  his  favorite  science  of  archaeology.  She 
leaned  forward  in  rapt  delight  over  Jessica 
Thompson's  bright  Shakesperian  papers,  and 
followed  with  keen  pleasure  Dr.  J.  K.  McLean 


168  KATE   THURSTON' S 

in  the  story  of  his  perilous  descent  into  the 
great  crater  of  Mauna  Loa.  Mr.  Adley  Cum 
mins'  thoughtful  picture  of  what  the  Orient  has 
done  for  us,  delighted  her  history-loving  taste ; 
and  Mrs.  Field's  "  Holy  George  Herbert"  made 
her  more  than  ever  in  love  with  that  most 
devout  soul. 

The  Thurston  household  did  not  quite  as  com 
pletely  surrender  themselves  to  Chautauqua 
sway.  Mrs.  Thurston  declared  one  good  lecture 
a  day  satisfied  her  appetite  in  that  line,  and  Mr. 
Thurston,  though  keenly  enjoying  the  intellec 
tual  feast,  had  to  set  some  metes  and  bounds  to 
his  journeyings,  while  Fred  confined  his  patron 
age  largely  to  Dr.  Wythe's  microscopic  talks 
and  Prof.  Keep's  seaside  lessons  in  conchology. 
Where  eye  and  hand  could  be  active  as  well  as 
brain,  and  especially  where  the  "sun  and  the 
sand  and  the  wild  uproar  "  could  be  included  in 
the  schoolroom,  there  the  boy's  faculties  were 
joyously  alive. 

And  so  the  Assembly  ran  on  almost  to  the 
end.  The  San  Benito  Chautauquans  had  an 
unlimited  good  tune.  The  simple  outdoor  life 


CHAUTAUQUA  CIRCLES.  169 

brought  with  it  a  return  to  unconventional  and 
wholesome  customs.  They  forgot  to  be  afraid 
of  each  other's  criticisms,  and  a  spirit  of  freedom 
and  good  comradery  reigned  supreme.  How 
restful  it  was  to  tired  housewives  like  Mrs. 
Brooks  and  Mrs.  Leib  !  What  a  lesson  it  was  to 
them  all  in  the  possibility  of  "  plain  living  and 
high  thinking"  ! 

One  afternoon  they  had  a  Round  Table  all  by 
themselves,  and  their  young  President  brought 
her  note-book  and  told  them  of  a  wonderful 
lecture  she  heard  at  the  Assembly  the  year  be 
fore,  upon  "  Work  and  Play,"  by  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Fiske,  then  of  San  Francisco.  It  had  made  such 
an  impression  upon  her  that  she  could  repeat 
almost  verbatim  the  glowing  sentences  describ 
ing  man's  complex  nature,  his  splendid  equip 
ment,  his  imperial  powers  of  body  and  soul, 
and  then  the  speaker's  beautiful  portrayal  of  the 
joy  man  should  take  both  in  work  and  play ; 
how  each  is  complementary  to  the  other,  how 
impossible  for  either  to  be  well  done  without 
the  other.  She  held  up  Dr.  Fiske' s  picture  of 
lifeinacamp  among  the  redwoods;  of  its  hunting, 


170  KATE  THURSTON'S 

fishing  and  tramping;  of  the  relish  for  food 
and  the  delicious  sleep  on  the  bed  of  ferns  and 
pine  needles  which  he  had  painted  so  vividly — 
all  so  intensely  enjoyed  because  it  came  in  vaca 
tion  tune  after  a  year  of  hard  work. 

They  gave  her  a  Chautauqua  salute  when  she 
had  finished,  because,  as  they  said,  no  doubt  the 
lecture  was  better  than  at  first  hand. 

"  I  like  such  a  lecture  out  under  the  sky," 
said  Mr.  Leib.  "  I  like  this  idea  of  'work  and 
play.'  Just  now  I  do  very  much  like  the  play. 
I  think  I  never  did  have  such  year  of  work,  all- 
round  work,  and  now  I  know  I  never  did  have 
such  tune  of  play." 

On  Saturday  our  Chautauquans  made  up  two 
overflowing  omnibus  loads  and  took  "the  long 
drive,"  as  it  is  always  called  in  Monterey. 
Eighteen  miles  of  perfect  road  winding  by  the 
coast,  sometimes  with  the  great  pines  almost 
meeting  overhead,  and  sometimes  on  the  open 
beach  among  the  sand  dunes.  It  is  always 
within  hearing  of  the  mighty  voice  of  old  ocean, 
and  most  of  the  way  one  looks  out  over  the  wild 
waste  of  waters  conscious  that  here  is  no  pent-up 


CHAUTAUQUA   CIRCLES.  171 

bay,  but  the  wide,  illimitable  sea.  White- 
breasted  gulls  flew  airily  back  and  forth  over 
the  heads  of  the  party,  and  great  seals  swam  in 
the  boiling  surf  around  rocky  islands,  filling  the 
air  with  their  hoarse  clamor.  At  famous  Cypress 
Point  they  took  their  noonday  lunch  under 
those  stately  trees  whose  antiquity  no  man  can 
measure,  and  whose  gnarled  trunk  and  strange 
dark  foliage  seem  like  a  survival  from  some 
prehistoric  world.  They  noted  the  ashen  gray 
hue  of  their  boles  and  the  dull  red  color  which 
lighted  the  under  side  of  the  limbs. 

"Embers  in  ashes,"  one  said, — a  most  fitting 
comparison. 

Leaving  the  weird  and  gloomy  cypress  they 
turned  eastward  toward  sunny  and  beautiful 
Carmel  Bay,  where  the  softest  and  warmest  sun 
shine  lay  on  the  pebbly  beach,  and  the  ripples 
crept  back  and  forth  with  sweet  whisperings, — a 
wonderful  contrast  to  Cypress  Point  with  its 
thunderous  waves,  like  a  hidden,  peaceful  life 
in  a  stormy  world. 

And  at  last,  as  the  sun  dropped  down  towards 
the  shining  sea,  they  turned  homeward  through 


172  KATE  THURSTON'S 

the  forest  again.  It  had  been  a  day  of  deep  and 
satisfying  pleasure  to  them  all — a  flawless  picture 
to  hang  in  memory's  long  gallery. 

Neither  Mr.  nor  Mrs.  Thurston  had  felt  quite 
equal  to  the  long  ride  and  so  had  enjoyed,  as 
they  reported  to  Kate  and  Fred,  the  most 
charming  of  picnics  in  their  own  little  favorite 
cove  near  Lovers'  Point. 

"  I'm  afraid  you  kept  some  young  folks  out  in 
the  cold,"  remarked  Fred,  with  a  boy's  jocose- 
ness  over  such  matters. 

"I'd  have  you  to  know,  sir,"  retorted  the 
father,  "that  young  folks  haven't  any  monopoly 
on  the  Point  or  the  Cove,  or  the  article  from 
which  they  took  their  name  !  Besides  if  mother 
and  I  aren't  young  folks  now-a-days,  where  will 
you  find  specimens  of  youth  ?  "  and  he  tweaked 
Fred's  ear  till  that  young  man,  whose  mouth 
chanced  to  be  too  full  for  utterance,  was  fain  to 
nod  a  vigorous  assent. 

The  second  week  of  the  Assembly  was  past 
meridian.  Friday  was  to  be  Recognition  Day 
and  the  end  of  the  session.  The  graduates  were 
to  give  the  Chapel  some  extra  decorations  on 


CHAUTAUQUA   CIRCLES,  173 

the  eventful  morning,  and  on  Thursday  evening 
after  tea  Elate  took  her  needle  and  thread  and  a 
basket  of  scarlet  geraniums  out  on  the  front 
steps  of  their  cottage  and  began  to  sew  the 
blossoms  on  some  large  pasteboard  figure  eights, 
which  she  had  taken  as  her  part  in  the  date  line 
to  be  placed  under  their  class  name  in  the  floral 
decorations.  The  tent-door  stood  open  and  her 
father  and  mother  sat  just  within,  enjoying,  like 
Abram  of  old,  the  fading  day  and  the  quiet 
hour.  A  carriage  stopped  at  the  gate  and  a 
gentleman  whom  Elate  knew  instantly,  sprang 
out  and,  leaving  the  lines  in  the  hands  of  a  lady 
who  was  with  him,  came  directly  in.  Kate's 
apron  was  full  of  geraniums  and  her  cheeks 
seemed  to  reflect  their  color  in  a  way  not  wholly 
explainable  on  any  scientific  theory,  but  she 
put  out  her  hand  in  real  pleasure,  for  how  often, 
oh,  how  often  !  she  had  wondered  during  these 
two  weeks  what  could  have  become  of  him. 

"  Good  evening,  Dr.  Hall,"  she  said  cordially. 
"  If  I  were  not  so  flower-fettered,  I  would  rise." 

"  Becoming  fetters  !"  he  said,  looking  in  her 
bright  face  with  just  his  old  friendliness. 


174  KATE   THURSTON'S 

Then  he  was  introduced  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Thurston,  and  in  a  moment  more  he  was  saying : 

"  My  mother  is  in  the  carriage ;  we  have  just 
driven  over  from  Del  Monte,  and  if  you  will 
allow  me  I  will  bring  her  in.  Miss  Thurston 
and  I  have  been  such  friends  and  allies  during 
the  past  year  our  mothers  should  surely  be 
acquainted." 

And  so,  just  as  gracefully,  and  with  as  much 
apparent  ease  as  if  they  were  in  a  beautiful 
parlor,  these  gentlefolk  were  soon  all  chatting 
together.  The  young  people  sat  on  the  steps 
while  the  elder  ones  were  a  little  farther  back. 
Dr.  Hall  gave  Kate  a  rapid  sketch  of  his  en 
grossing  cares  of  the  preceding  fortnight  and 
thus  cleared  up  the  mystery  of  his  disappear 
ance,  and  she  gave  him  a  merry  account  of  the 
cramming  process  to  which  she  had  been  sub 
jecting  herself. 

"Don't  you  notice  it?"  she  laughed.  "The 
air  is  just  foggy  with  information  over  here. 
We're,  as  one  might  say,  briny  with  Attic  salt. 
But  I  must  keep  right  on  with  my  work  or  they 
won't  let  me  graduate  to-morrow.  These  eights 


CHAUTAUQUA   CIRCLES.  175 

must  all  be  there  to  testify  to  our  four  years 
of  work,"  and  she  fell  to  pulling  off  the 
great  double  flowers  and  fastening  them  in 
place. 

"Why  I  can  do  that,"  said  Dr.  Hall,  "at  least 
I  can  pick  off  the  flowers,"  and  he  drew  nearer 
and  began  to  render  what  Kate  called  "valuable 
professional  service." 

Suddenly  they  were  aware  that  the  conversa 
tion  behind  them  was  growing  very  animated : 

"  And  so  you  were  the  Will  Thurston  I  knew 
so  well ! "  said  Mrs.  Hall  eagerly. 

"  And  you  were  the  little  Mary  Belford  !  Let 
us  shake  hands  over  again!"  exclaimed  Mr. 
Thurston.  "Katie  dear,  come  right  here  and 
see  somebody  I  knew  when  I  was  a  boy  ! " 

At  almost  the  same  tune  Mrs.  Hall  was  say 
ing: 

"Philip,  come  and  shake  hands  again  with 
Mr.  Thurston ;  he  was  a  schoolmate  of  mine ; 
his  mother  and  mine  were  dear  friends,  and  his 
sister  Kate  and  I  were  quite  inseparable.  Ah, 
the  dear  old  days  ! " 

So  Philip  and  Kate  came  dutifully  forward 


176  KATE  THURSTON' S 

and  a  general  re-handshaking  was  indulged  in 
with  a  great  access  of  cordiality. 

"  I  felt  sure  our  friendship  was  inherited  or 
something,"  said  Dr.  Hall,  looking  at  Kate  with 
an  expression  half  droll,  half  serious,  to  which 
she  smiled  a  sort  of  limited  response  and  then 
drew  a  camp  chair  close  to  her  father  and 
listened  with  deepest  interest  to  the  rapid  inter 
change  of  question  and  answer  as  he  and  Mrs. 
Hall  talked  of  the  days  of  their  youth.  Mrs. 
Thurston  listened  as  sympathetically. 

There  was  nothing  left  for  Dr.  Hall  but  to 
watch  the  beaming,  responsive  face  which  had 
grown  to  be  the  one  face  in  the  world  for  him. 

Pretty  soon  the  bell  began  to  ring  for  the 
evening  lecture  and  Dr.  Hall  rose  : 

"Well,  mother,"  he  said,  "I  shall  have  to 
carry  you  away  from  this  delightful  re-union  or 
Miss  Thurston  will  lose  another  golden  oppor 
tunity  for  mental  advancement." 

" How  absurd  !"  said  Kate.  "Do  stay,  Mrs. 
Hall ;  the  lecture  will  really  go  on  without  me." 

"Doubtless,"  said  Dr.  Hall  gravely.  "The 
question  is,  can  you  go  on  without  the  lecture?" 


GHAUTAUqUA     CIRGLE8.  177 

Mrs.  Hall  rose.  "  Yes,  we  must  go,"  she  said, 
"we  have  quite  overstayed  our  time.  When 
we  came  we  were  not  at  all  sure  we  could  even 
find  your  daughter,  but  we  have  been  fortunate 
indeed  !  Now,  when  shall  we  meet  again  ?  We 
must  make  the  most  of  this  wayside  encounter." 

'  'To-morrow, ' '  said  Dr.  Hall,  promptly.  "Miss 
Thurston  is  to  graduate  to-morrow,  and  we 
must  all  be  ready  with  our  congratulations." 

Mrs.  Hall  looked  puzzled  and  poor  Kate  dis 
tressed. 

"Oh,  this  is  too  bad,"  she  cried.  "Please  do 
not  come  !  Why,  I  really  have  something  to  do. 
I  shall  be  greatly  embarrassed,"  and  the  usually 
brave  girl  felt  her  eyes  filling. 

The  lovely  elder  woman  put  her  arm  around 
the  younger  one  and  kissed  the  flushed  and 
troubled  face :  "  My  dear  child,"  she  said,  "you 
must  never  be  afraid  of  me  again,  not  the  least 
bit ;  I  am  your  true  warm  friend  forever  and 
ever." 

What  more  could  be  said  or  done?  Kate 
stayed  at  home  from  the  lecture  that  night  and 
finished  her  "eights,"  and  conned  her  little 


178  KATE  THURSTON'S 

"piece"  over  and  over  by  the  flaring  candle 
which  was  their  only  means  of  lighting. 

The  depth  of  the  good  breeding  in  the  little 
tent  was  shown  by  the  fact  that  not  one  of  them 
spoke  of  the  shabbiness  of  their  little  dwelling 
place  and  the  elegance  of  the  dress  and  manner 
of  their  guest.  They  simply  talked  on  until 
late  at  night  of  the  happy  old  times,  the  loveli 
ness  of  Mary  Belford,  and  the  fortunate  dis 
covery  of  the  old  acquaintance. 

"The  good  hand  of  our  God  is  over  us  all," 
said  Mr.  Thurston  with  fervent  gratitude. 

And  the  good  breeding  in  the  carriage  was 
shown  by  its  inmates  never  once  alluding  to 
the  plainness  of  the  little  tent  they  had  visited, 
with  its  bare  floor  and  primitive  furnishings. 
They,  too,  talked  of  dear  young  friendships 
which  after  forty  years  needed  but  a  breath  to 
renew  their  glowing  warmth,  and  of  the  beauti 
ful  refinement  and  culture  of  these  old  new 
friends. 

"That  is  indeed  a  charming  girl,  Philip.  I 
don't  wonder  you  have  written  of  her  loveliness. 
If  something  more  than  friendship  should  come 


CHAUTAUQUA    CIRCLES.  179 

to  you  two,  your  mother  will  be  more  than 
pleased,"  said  the  soft  voice  of  her  who  had 
been  to  Philip  Hall  from  his  babyhood  his  best 
and  most  trusted  adviser. 

"  You  have  guessed  my  secret,  mother  dear," 
he  said. 

Poor  Kate's  night  was  abbreviated  at  both 
ends  for  she  had  to  be  up  early  in  the  morning 
to  help  set  the  little  room  in  faultless  order  be 
fore  going  up  to  put  the  finishing  touch  to  the 
flowers  in  the  Chapel.  It  was  with  nervous 
hands  she  put  on  her  simple  best  dress  of  dark 
blue  cashmere.  Her  figure  was  straight  and 
slender  and  the  gown  had  as  few  "catch-ups" 
as  the  style  would  possibly  permit.  She  had  no 
frills  or  furbelows  of  any  sort,  just  an  edge  of 
white  linen  at  throat  and  wrists  and  a  bunch  of 
scarlet  geraniums  in  her  belt.  Her  lovely  brown 
hair  was  brushed  smoothly  back  and  piled  in  a 
lustrous  coil  on  the  top  of  her  shapely  head,  and 
her  only  "frizzes"  were  the  airy  little  rings 
with  which  nature  had  insisted  on  framing  her 
broad  full  forehead.  As  she  stood  before  the 
tiny  looking-glass  settling  her  pretty  little  black 


180  KATE   THURSTON'S 

straw  turban,  with  its  becoming  dark  blue  vel 
vet  trimming  just  matching  her  gown,  and  its 
one  bright  bit  of  color,  a  scarlet  wing,  just 
matching  her  flowers,  she  was  indeed  a  pleasant 
sight  to  parental  eyes,  and  even  the  most  criti 
cal  on-looker  would  have  had  to  search  for  fault 
or  flaw.  But  she  had  rather  a  perturbed  spirit. 
How  could  she  ever  face  that  great  audience 
which  she  knew  the  commencement  exercises 
would  be  sure  to  call  out  ?  And  oh,  if  certain 
other  faces  should  be  there,  how  could  she  ever 
endure  their  intent  gaze  as  she  struggled  through 
her  poor  dear  little  poem  ?  Yes,  it  must  be 
confessed,  "  it "  was  a  poem.  Her  heart  throbbed 
wildly  at  the  thought,  and  she  really  feared 
that  with  a  frantic  clutch  and  gasp  she  might, 
at  the  critical  moment,  sink  down  upon  the 
platform,  a  poor  crumpled  heap  of  failure  and 
dismay ! 

Her  mother  and  father  were  coming  an  hour 
later,  at  just  the  time  to  secure  good  seats,  and 
now  they  were  quietly  and  calmly  brushing  off 
Monterey  sand  and  picking  off  Monterey  burrs 
from  their  Sunday  garments,  without  a  thought 


CHAUTAUQUA    CIRCLES.  181 

of  poor  Kate's  misery.  She  hardly  dared  to  speak 
to  them  lest  she  should  break  down  in  a  most 
girlish  fashion,  and  there  was  a  pathetic  tremble 
in  voice  and  lip  as  at  last  she  said  simply  : 

"  Oh  dear,  I  am  so  frightened  !  " 

"Why,  my  precious  Katie  !"  said  her  mother, 
coming  forward  sympathetically  to  kiss  her, 
but  her  father  who  knew  her  mood  perfectly 
and  remembered  well  his  own  early  "stage- 
frights,"  had  some  good  advice  : 

"  See  here,  Katie,"  he  said  cheerily,  "  try  not 
to  think  about  yourself  at  all  till  you  are  called 
for,  and  then  whenever  you  raise  your  eyes 
from  your  paper  you  look  straight  at  me,  and 
just  think  of  me;  you  know  what  your  old  father 
— young  father,  I  mean — thinks  about  both  you 
and  your  poem.  You  just  read  it  to  me.  Mother 
and  I  will  be  in  our  usual  places,  third  seat  back 
in  the  middle  row." 

Just  then  Fred  burst  in  and  it  seemed  after 
all  that  he  knew  best  of  any  of  them  what  to 
say,  for  he  threw  his  hat  into  the  air  and  seizing 
Kate  by  the  arms  swung  her  round  into  full 
view. 


182  KATE    THURSTON'S 

"My,  but  isn't  she  pretty?"  he  cried  with 
genuine  enthusiasm,  "and  isn't  she  nice?  and 
isn't  she  smart?  and  isn't  she  sweet?  and  when 
she  '  speaks  her  piece '  to-day,  won't  we  be 
proud  of  her  though ?  You  bet!" 

"  Fred  !  Fred  ! "  cried  his  father  in  attempted 
disapprobation,  but  the  whole  room  seemed 
freshened  with  his  young  life  and  fun,  and  Kate 
herself  broke  out  in  silvery  laughter  which  was 
vastly  better  than  the  tears  which  had  been  im 
pending. 

She  drew  on  her  gloves  and  giving  the  family 
a  parting  kiss  all  around  she  hurried  up  to  the 
Chapel  with  her  basket  of  figures  and  flowers. 
She  took  her  favorite  path  along  the  beach  and 
drew  in  long  deep  breaths  of  the  pure  briny  air. 
She  even  took  time  to  step  out  on  a  jutting  point 
and  let  her  thoughts  follow  a  gull  on  its  ocean- 
ward  flight.  "Ah,  my  heart,"  she  thought, 
"  how  like  the  troubled  sea  thou  art ! " 

One  of  her  favorite  hymns  flitted  through  her 
mind  like  a  message  from  heaven  : 

"  Calm  me,  my  God,  and  keep  me  calm." 

She  clasped   her   hands  over  her  basket  of 


CHAUTAUQUA   CIRCLES.  183 

flowers,  and  made  the  hymn  a  prayer  indeed, 
while  the  Peace  of  God  stole  over  spirit  and  face. 
Her  path  to  the  Chapel  led  her  through  the  San 
Benito  settlement,  and  here  she  was  captured 
instantly  by  a  bevy  of  admirers.  The  elder 
ones  smiled  their  approbation  while  the  younger 
people  complimented  her  more  openly. 

"  She's  a  blue-bird  !»  cried  little  John  Leib, 
with  a  child's  quick  perception  of  color. 

"  She  surely  doesn't  look  like  a  blue-stocking," 
said  a  young  lady. 

Kate  held  up  a  warning  finger  :  "  Now  please 
don't  say  another  word  about  your  school- 
ma'am,"  she  said,  "but  come  up  and  join  the 
procession  at  ten  o'clock,  and  be  sure  to  sit 
where  you  generally  do  so  that  I  may  know 
where  to  look  if  my  courage  fails,"  and  she 
hastened  on  her  way  to  the  Chapel,  where  she 
found  the  decorators  already  at  work,  and 
flowers,  flowers  everywhere !  They  banked  the 
platform  with  lavish  hands,  they  filled  vases 
and  bowls,  they  heaped  them  in  gorgeous  beauty 
around  the  little  reading  desk,  and  then  laid 
them  along  the  beams  with  a  profusion  which 


184  KATE  THURSTON'S 

at  any  point  east  of  the  Eocky  Mountains  would 
have  looked  like  reckless  extravagance.  A 
member  of  the  class  from  Oregon  who  could  not 
be  present  sent  the  name  of  the  '84's,  "The 
Irrepressibles,"  made  in  large  letters  of  brilliant 
autumn  leaves,  and  this  was  put  up  against  a 
white  background  at  the  rear  of  the  platform. 
The  class  dates  in  scarlet  geraniums,  1880-1884, 
completed  the  whole. 

Kate  forgot  everything  but  the  beauty  as  she 
ran  here  and  there,  now  steadying  a  rickety 
step-ladder  or  passing  up  tacks  to  some  one 
perched  aloft,  and  now  deftly  putting  bouquets 
in  effective  places.  At  last  it  was  all  done  and 
every  trace  of  the  doing  process  removed. 

' 'Eden's bower  !"  cried  Kate  in  happy  satis 
faction  over  the  result;  "  Eden's  bower,  enriched 
by  the  modern  Chautauqua  idea ! " 

Then  they  all  hurried  over  to  join  the  Chau 
tauqua  procession  which  was  forming  at  the 
C.  L.  S.  C.  office.  They  were  delighted  to  find 
that  their  President,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Stratton,  had  at 
last  arrived  on  the  grounds  to  take  charge  of  his 
flock,  and  soon  he  was  among  them  greeting 


CHAUTAUQUA    CIRCLES.  185 

old  friends  and  making  new  ones  in  his  own 
happy  way.  Kate  had  marshaled  her  Chau- 
tauquans  in  the  Class  of  '87  and  then  took  her 
own  modest  place  among  the  '84's.  How  proud 
she  felt  of  them  all !  There  was  Dr.  Anderson's 
good  gray  head  leading  the  Class,  arm  in  arm 
with  the  President,  who  himself  was  an  '84. 
They  were  honored  indeed.  And  there  in  the 
class,  too,  was  Dr.  Wythe,  the  great  scientist ; 
and  the  Pacific  Coast  Treasurer,  with  her  fair, 
intellectual  face  aglow  with  pleasure;  there 
were  only  a  dozen  of  them,  this  Class  of  '84,  who 
could  be  present,  and  most  of  them  were  a  great 
deal  older  than  our  heroine,  but  her  heart  gave 
them  a  big  tribute  of  love  and  admiration.  She 
walked  beside  one  who  was  silver  haired  but 
blest  with  immortal  youth,  and  as  they  talked 
together  they  decided  that  Chautauqua  was  like 
the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  in  its  ignoring  of  ordi 
nary  distinctions. 

The  program  at  the  Hall  moved  on  without  a 
flaw.  Kate  was  so  glad  that  the  Secretary's 
usual  contribution  from  her  note-book  made 
them  all  laugh  rather  than  cry ;  she  felt  so  much 


186  KATE   THURSTON'S 

more  like  the  latter  most  unsuitable  and  un 
becoming  performance. 

Then  the  graduates'  essays  followed,  and  poor 
Kate's  hands  began  to  grow  cold,  but  she  reso 
lutely  gave  her  attention  to  the  readers  and  was 
pleased  indeed  with  all,  but  specially  with  Mrs. 
Duyden's  beautiful  sketch  of  the  Gary  sisters, 
who  were  her  old  friends  and  neighbors  in  their 
youth. 

Miss  Thurston's  name  was  called  and  that 
unmanageable  heart  of  hers  gave  a  wild  throb, 
but  she  went  bravely  forward  and  upon  the 
platform ;  then  true  to  her  resolution  made  her 
graceful  bow  to  her  father.  But  how  could  she 
help  seeing  the  lovely  placid  face  of  Mrs.  Hall 
close  beside  him,  and  the  unmistakable  fine 
manly  presence  beside  her,  and  next  to  him  a 
beautiful  young  woman  wearing  eye-glasses  ! 

Then  a  miracle  happened — not  a  very  uncom 
mon  miracle,  either.  Kate's  tense  nerves  be 
came  suddenly  firm ;  her  heart  kept  its  place 
and  grew  quiet  in  its  movements,  and  when  she 
opened  her  lips  her  voice  was  just  as  smooth  and 
sweet  as  if  she  had  been  in  her  schoolroom. 


CHAUTAUQUA   CIRCLES.  187 

Somehow  her  self  vanished  and  only  her  theme 
stood  before  her.  It  was  so  with  her  hearers 
too.  They  forgot  the  lovely  young  maiden 
standing  there  among  the  flowers  and  heard  the 
dash  of  northern  seas  and  the  chime  of  monas 
tery  bells  as  she  read  her  poem  of 

CJEDMON. 

Sweet  is  the  story  of  Csedmon  and  full  of  the  deepest  sug 
gestion, 

Csedmon,  the  Saxon  herdman,  first  of  our  English 
singers. 

Old  are  the  annals  which  tell  it,  and  rescued  from  many  a 
peril, 

Chronicles  faithful  and  beautiful,  kept  by  Beda  the  aged. 

Dust  for  a  thousand  years  has  been  the  good  hand  which 
wrote  them, 

Still  will  they  live  and  be  cherished  when  a  thousand  more 
have  been  numbered. 

Dimly  we  see  him  afar  leading  his  flocks  like  young 

David, 
Like  him,  too,  ruddy  and  fair,  with  the  yellow  hair  of  the 

Saxon 
Circling  his  bright  young  head  with  his  saint-like  and 

beautiful  aureole. 

Only  a  peasant  lad,  herding  the  kine  of  the  convent, 
Where  on  its  cliff  by  the  sea  nestled  the  cloister  of  Whitby, 
Or  dwelling  with  them  on  the  heights  of  the  barren  hills 

of  Northumbria. 

Homeless  and  nameless  he  comes  into  the  pages  of  history, 
Poor  and  untaught  and  alone  but  brave  and  fearless  and 

hardy, 
Child  of  the  mighty  mother  who  fairly  deals  with  her 

children, 

Giving  the  poor  and  the  friendless  ever  her  rich  compen 
sations. 


188  KATE  THURSTON'S 

Daily  he  read  from  a  book  better  than  that  of  the  school 
men, 

For  ever  around  him  unfolded  the  pages  which  no  man 
can  number, 

Pages  of  mountain  and  meadow,  glebe-land  and  forest 
unbroken ; 

Ever  before  him  stretched  also  the  infinite  reaches  of 
ocean; 

Ever  its  voice  called  aloud  and  the  heart  of  the  youth 
throbbed  responsive. 

Sunshine  and  storm  alike  welcome  were  good  to  the 
young  heart  that  loved  them, 

Snow  and  frost-flowers  of  winter,  rain  and  blossoms  of 
summer. 

Close  to  the  heart-beats  of  nature  dwelt  he  all  unaffrighted, 

Warm  and  bright  was  his  life  with  youth  and  with  inno 
cent  pleasure, 

Clear  and  alert  was  his  brain,  untangled  with  logical  sub 
tleties, 

Sweet  was  his  voice  and  untrained  like  the  notes  of  the 
merle  and  the  mavis, 

Friendly  and  kind  was  his  heart,  yearning  for  love  and 
for  sympathy. 

But  when  on  the  winter  hearth  the  mighty  yule  log 
burned  cheerily, 

Or  on  the  midsummer  night  fires  gleamed  on  the  moor 
and  the  mountain, 

Or  young  men  and  maidens  on  May-day  danced  round 
the  gaily  wreathed  May-pole, 

Ever  among  his  companions  wandered  he  lonely  and 
separate, 

Ever  for  off  looked  his  eyes,  and  his  voice  had  a  tone  of 
appealing. 

And  when  in  the  banqueting  hall  men  crowded  for  bois 
terous  wassail, 

Quaffing  the  high-foaming  ale-cup  with  clamorous  jesting 
and  laughter, 

And  loud  sang  the  bards  and  the  gleemen  wild  ballads  of 
war  and  of  rapine, 

Vainly  they  urged  him  to  join  them,  his  heart  was  un 
stirred  by  their  madness. 


CHAUTAUQ.UA    CIRCLES.  189 

Filled  Instead  was  his  soul  with  bitterest  shame  and  con 
fusion, 
And  often  he  silently  rose  and  stole  away  from  their 

tumult. 
Better,  far  better  he  loved  the  chanting  he  heard  in  the 

convent, 
Where  mid  the  monks  and  the  nuns  ruled  the  wise  abbess 

St.  Hilda. 
Dear  to  the  heart  of  the  youth  were  the  wonderful  words  of 

the  Gospel, 
As  he  oft  heard  them  unfolded  by  Cuthbert  the  holy 

apostle, 
Reading  the  heavenly  words  from  the  precious  book  of 

the  Abbey, 
Bound  in  the  purest  of  gold  and  jeweled  with  marvelous 

sapphires ; 
The  tale  of  the  mystical  life  which  made  all  life  worthy  of 

living; 
How  poor  and  friendless  and  homeless  lived  the  divine 

Man  of  sorrows, 
And  listening  the  youth  was  aware  how  toil  and  want  are 

made  sacred. 
Dear  beyond  words  to  his  heart  were  the  hymns  of  the 

matins  and  vespers. 
Rapt  and  exultant  he  joined  in  the  heavenly  song  of  the 

shepherds : 
"Peace  to  men  of  good-will,  and  glory  to  God  in  the 

highest!" 
Hasted   he  ever  at  dawn  to  kneel  in  the  aisle  of  the 

minster 
While  clear  and  high   rose   the    anthem,  Eterne  rerum 

conditur  ; 

And  when  the  day's  toil  was  ended  bo  wed  in  deep  adoration 
Thrilled  with  the  cadences  soft  of  the  old  even  song  Nunc 

dimittis; 
Then  when  the  last  tender  echo  died  away  through  the 

cloisters 
Silently  turned  his  steps  homeward  with  thoughts  which 

vaguely  oppressed  him, 
Conscious  of  power  all  unused  and  full  of  an  infinite 

longing. 


190  KA  TE  THURSTON'S 

Thus  went  the  months  and  the  years  in  lowliest,  faith- 

fulest  service 

Till  the  fair  hair  of  the  youth  faded  from  gold  Into  silver, 
And  the  young  heart  had  grown  old,  still  with  its  burden 

unspoken. 

At  length  It  befell  on  a  day  when  far  and  near  gathered 

for  feasting, 
All  day  there  was  riot  and  revel  and  deeper  it  grew  with 

the  nightfall ; 
Louder  and  fiercer  and  madder  rang  the  wild  din  of  the 

ale-poets, 
Sadder  and  fuller  of  loathing  grew  the  pure  heart  of  the 

herdman. 
Then  one  thrust  the  harp  toward  him  and  passed  him  the 

o'erflowing  beaker : 
"  Sing  to  us,  sing  now,  thou  churlish  one!"  shouted  the 

drunken  carousers. 
Then  he  arose  pale  and  trembling  with  passion  of  shame 

and  of  sorrow, 
Threw  down  the  harp  and  the  ale-horn  and  fled  out  afar 

in  the  darkness, 

Stole  away  to  the  fold  where  the  quiet  cattle  lay  sleeping, 
Made  his  rude  bed  in  their  midst  and  sought  to  grow 

calm  in  the  stillness. 

Over  his  head  moved  the  stars  drifting  in  solemn  pro 
cession, 
And  thoughts  of  the  great  Over-Father  drifted  across  his 

soul's  heaven 
While  gently  the  soft  dews  of  sleep  distilled  with  the 

dews  of  the  even. 

Suddenly  down  from  the  sky  there  floated  a  heavenly 
vision, 

Stood  by  his  side  there  a  being  radiant  with  glory  in 
effable, 

And,  speaking  with  gracious  entreaty,  "Sing  to  me," 
pleaded  the  angel. 

"Nay,  but  I  cannot  sing,"  murmured  the  sleeper  most 
sadly, 

''  Fled  I  not  hither  but  now  to  'scape  from  the  plea  of  my 
brothers  ?  " 


CHAUTAUQUA    CIRCLES.  191 

Still  urged  the  sweet  voice  Its  message,  "  Canst  thou  not 

sing  at  MY  bidding?  " 
Then  helpless  and  humble  and  fearing,  low  prostrate  In 

full  self-surrender, 
He  fell  at  the  feet  of  the  Presence,  crying,  "  "What  shall  I 

sing,  Oh  my  Master?  " 
"Sing  me  Creation!"  He  whispered,  then  vanished  in 

slow-rising  brightness. 

Then  out  of  the  heart  of  the  dreamer  the  swift  words 
o'erflowed,  like  the  waters 

Which  thunder  and  beat  on  the  cliffs  when  the  north 
wind  drives  them  before  it, 

And  the  soul  of  the  poet  new-born  broke  forth  into  jubi 
lant  singing. 

Waking  at  dawning  the  herdman  still  throbbed  with  the 

wonderful  music 
And  fled  with  tumultuous  Joy  to  Hilda  the  faithful  and 

reverent. 
"  Haste  to  the  Chapel ! "  she  cried  ;  then  summoned  her 

counselors  thither. 
Long  they  listened  enraptured,  wondering,  questioning, 

believing, 
Praising  God  for  His  grace,  as  hymn  followed  hymn  from 

the  singer. 
Then  with  joyful  acclaiming  they  gave  a  new  name  to 

the  herdman, 

Christened  him  Csedmon,  Csedmon,  the  newly  created, 
Chosen  by  Heaven  to  sing  them  the  glorious  song  of 

Creation. 

Slowly  arose  the  dear  Abbess,  the  noble,  the  beautiful 

Hilda, 
Pale  and  awe-struck  and  trembling,  her  heart  and  her 

eyes  overflowing, 
Laid  her  white  hand  like  a  snowflake  on  the  dark  palm 

of  the  herdman, 
Led  him  abashed  and  reluctant  up  to  her  velvetrdraped 

dais, 
There  in  tones  laden  with  prophecy  crowned  him  her 

poet  forever. 


192  KATE  THURSTON'S 

long  lived  the  heaven-taught  Csedmon,  ever  the  joy  of 
the  convent ; 

Comfort  and  teaching  and  blessing  brought  he  to  cloister 
and  hamlet. 

Never  in  aught  did  he  fell  from  the  height  of  his  first  in 
spiration  ; 

Ever  he  honored  the  gift  but  ever  remembered  the  Giver ; 

Ever  was  lowly  in  spirit  and  consecrated  to  heaven ; 

Till  white  haired  and  burdened  with  years.    Then  again 
came  the  Shining  One  to  him, 

Whispering  one  even  at  vespers,  "  Sing  me  thy  matins  in 

heaven ! " 

.  And  they  who  sought  him  at  morning  found  that  else 
where  was  his  waking. 

Sweet  is  thy  story,  O  Csedmon,  and  full  of  the  deepest 

suggestion. 
Vain  to  the  heart  of  the  poet  is  all  his  wild  stress  and  en. 

deavor, 
Vain  the  fine  frenzy  of  passion,  the  infinite  dreaming  and 

longing, 
Till  on  his  soul  prone  and  helpless  descendeth  the  Soul  of 

the  universe 
With  the  mandate  divine  and  resistless  which  fell  on  the 

singer  of  Whitby. 

Beautiful  music  followed,  and  then  Dr.  Strat- 
ton  talked  in  his  fine  comprehensive  way  of 
what  a  Chautauqua  diploma  means — not  a 
college  degree,  but  something  better  :  a  resolute 
effort  for  self-culture;  a  steadfast  purpose  to 
gain  a  higher  intellectual  standpoint  and  a 
broader  outlook,  and  the  achievement  of  this  end. 

The  precious  diplomas  were  then  given  to  the 
class,  and  it  was  all  over. 


CHAUTAUQUA   CIRCLES.  193 

Friends  hastened  forward  with  congratula 
tions,  and  Kate  found  herself  surrounded.  She 
gave  her  two  hands  first  to  her  father  and 
mother,  and  then  before  her  friends  from  Del 
Monte  could  reach  her,  she  shook  hands  right 
and  left  with  her  Chautauquans,  who  showered 
their  loving  commendation  upon  her  ;  one  half- 
reproachful  word  of  Mr.  Leib's  being  the  only 
unfavorable  criticism : 

"Ah,  Miss  Kate  !  You  should  not  haf  made 
me  cry  right  here  before  efery  body  telling  about 
that  poor  poet-boy  ! "  Kate  never  forgot  that 
simple  honest  tribute. 

Dr.  Hall  had  brought  his  mother  forward  and 
Kate  turned  to  them  with  heightened  color  but 
with  all  her  natural  modest  grace,  to  be  almost 
taken  in  Mrs.  Hall's  arms,  while  her  son  put 
out  his  hand  with  pleasant  conventional  words, 
and  then  made  himself  unaffectedly  cordial 
with  the  San  Benito  people. 

Mrs.  Hall  drew  Kate  toward  the  young  lady 
whose  eye-glasses  had  once  proved  so  disconcert 
ing,  and  whom  Kate's  fancy  had  unhesitatingly 
placed  as  Dr. 


194  KATE   THTJRSTON'S 

"Miss  Thurston,"  she  said,  "my  niece,  Miss 
Grant.  Genevieve,  this  is  the  young  lady  who 
has  given  us  so  much  pleasure,  and  the  daughter 
of  my  dear  old  friend." 

Miss  Grant  smiled  and  bowed  graciously,  even 
put  out  her  little  hand  and  murmured  a  soft 
word  or  two  of  appreciation,  but  she  could  not 
quite  forget  that  here  was  a  product  of  the  wild 
West,  and  therefore  to  be  looked  upon  with 
slight  suspicion  till  further  developments  should 
follow. 

Mrs.  Hall  said  more  kind  things  of  Kate's 
poem,  and  then  as  they  hastened  to  their  wait 
ing  carriage  she  spoke  urgently  : 

"My  dear,  I  hope  you  and  your  father  and 
mother  can  join  us  in  an  excursion  to  Carmel 
Mission  to-morrow.  You  must  be  very  tired, 
but  we  have  to  leave  Monterey  on  Monday,  and 
I  must  have  a  day  with  you  all.  I  have  been 
talking  with  your  mother  about  it.  Your 
brother  must  go  too ;  I  claim  you  all  as  my 
guests." 

Kate  cheerfully  promised  to  aid  the  project, 
although  she  still  felt  the  chill  of  her  encounter 


CHAUTAUQUA  CIRCLES.  195 

with  Miss  Grant.  She  was  warmly  thanking 
Mrs.  Hall  for  the  invitation,  when  another  voice 
beside  her  said  :  "  If  I  come  over  this  evening, 
can  you  give  me  the  pleasure  of  a  little  walk  by 
the  sea?" 

"Why,  yes,  I  think  so,"  said  Kate,  with  an 
other  of  those  mantling  blushes  which  other 
people  thought  vastly  pretty  but  which  to  her 
were  a  source  of  great  distress. 

The  carriage  whirled  away  and  Kate  at  last 
was  seized  by  Fred :  "  Let's  hurry  home  ahead 
of  father  and  mother,"  he  said;  "I'm  just  too 
awfully  hungry  to  wait  another  minute.  What 
are  we  going  to  have  for  lunch,  anyway?  Is 
there  any  of  the  boiled  ham  left  ?  " 

And  so  Kate  descended  to  earth. 

There  was  a  charming  Bound  Table  on  the 
beach  that  afternoon  where  Chautauqua  ex 
periences  were  interchanged,  and  stories  told, 
and  toasts  responded  to ,  and  where  the  utmost 
good  fellowship  reigned.  A  huge  fire  of  drift 
wood  was  built  and  Monterey  mussels  in  un 
limited  number  met  with  the  sad  fate  of  their 
cousins  on  the  Atlantic  coast  at  a  clam-bake.  It 


196  KATE  THURSTON'iS 

was  all  very  pleasant  and  no  end  of  good  things 
were  said  and  done,  but  Kate  was  just  a  trifle 
distrait  and  not  quite  so  full  of  bright  thought 
and  suggestion  as  was  her  wont.  They  all  ex 
cused  her  on  the  ground  of  over-fatigue,  and  no 
one  guessed  what  made  her  knit  her  brows  a 
little  and  look  far  out  to  sea. 

They  sat  on  the  shining  sand  and  chatted 
socially  between  the  varied  exercises  in  the 
most  informal  way,  but  as  the  sun  dropped 
downward  they  were  called  to  order  and  stood 
with  bowed  heads  while  Dr.  Stratton's  beautiful 
voice  rose  above  the  breaking  of  the  waves  in  an 
earnest  closing  prayer. 

The  summer  Assembly  was  over. 


CHAPTER  XL 

ON  COVERS'  POINT. 

OUR  heroine  as  usual  hurried  home.  Her 
brother  Fred  had  been  a  lively  helper  at  the 
mussel-roast,  not  only  in  the  way  of  securing 
the  delicious  bivalves,  but  in  consuming  them, 
and  yet  Kate  knew  that  he  would  be  entirely 
ready  for  an  early  tea.  It  was  made  ready  and 
disposed  of  and  Elate  had  hardly  taken  off  her 
apron  when  the  tap  at  the  door  came  for  which 
she  had  been  listening. 

Mr.  Thurston  opened  the  door  and,  seeing  who 
was  standing  there,  held  the  door  wide  open 
and  cordially  begged  Dr.  Hall  to  come  in,  but 
the  young  man  stood  hat  in  hand,  evidently 
with  something  else  on  his  mind  beside  the  in 
terchange  of  salutations  or  a  general  sociabil- 
ity: 

"  Pardon  me,"  he  said,  "  but  if  you  will  give 


198  KATE    THURSTON'S 

me  the  privilege,  I  have  come  to  carry  off  Miss 
Kate  for  a  little  stroll  on  the  beach." 

Kate  had  already  come  forward  and  with  a 
"  Yes,  papa,  Dr.  Hall  spoke  to  me  of  this  at  noon, 
and  I  will  put  on  my  hat  directly.  I  am  tired 
of  course,  but  the  sea  always  rests  me." 

"To  be  sure,  to  be  sure,"  said  Mr.  Thurston. 
"  She's  my  own  girl.  The  sea  was  my  first  love, 
Dr.  Hall.  I  grew  up  with  your  mother,  you 
know,  on  old  Penobscot  Bay." 

Kate's  hat  was  adjusted  by  this  time,  but  her 
mother  drew  her  aside:  "  Take  this  extra  shawl," 
she  said,  "  you  know  how  chilly  it  grows."  The 
chintz  curtain  was  between  them  and  the  door, 
and  she  suddenly  put  both  arms  around  her 
daughter  and  pressed  her  faded  cheek  against 
the  bright  young  face :  "  My  darling !  my  dar 
ling!"  she  said.  It  was  a  great  deal  for  her  to 
say. 

The  young  people  went  slowly  toward  the 
beach  and  stood  for  a  few  moments  on  a  rude 
little  foot  bridge  that  spanned  a  ravine  just  as  it 
reached  the  shore.  To  the  eastward  the  moon 
was  just  rising,  making  a  silver  pathway  across 


CHAUTAUQUA    CIRCLES.  199 

the  bay,  which  lay  rocking  in  great  soft  billows 
scarcely  perceptible  save  when  they  broke  over 
some  rocky  point. 

"  Over  there  is  organ  rock,"  said  Kate,  "  shall 
we  go  and  listen  to  the  music  ?  It  is  almost  like 
going  to  church." 

They  followed  the  path  along  the  cliffs,  stop 
ping  now  for  a  flower  or  bit  of  curious  lichen, 
and  then  to  watch  the  gulls  and  the  beautiful 
wild  ducks  that  rode  the  waves  in  such  happy 
fearlessness.  All  the  time  their  pleasant  talk 
ran  on,  of  botany  and  the  flora  of  California,  of 
the  rocks  and  the  geology  of  the  coast, 
of  the  shells  and  Prof.  Keep's  delightful 
lessons.  Kate  especially  appeared  bent  on 
securing  more  information  from  her  scientific 
companion,  who  was  to  her  an  embodiment  of 
wisdom,  and  who  indeed  was  well  versed  in  the 
best  lore  of  the  universities,  supplemented  by 
the  knowledge  gained  through  keen  powers  of 
observation.  He  made  a  few  weak  attempts  to 
stem  the  tide  of  scientific  talk  and  to  give  it  a 
personal  turn,  but  the  young  woman  beside  him 
was  strangely  coy. 


200  KATE   THURSTOXT'S 

"  How  happy  I  am,"  he  said,  "  over  the  auld 
acquaintance  of  my  mother  and  your  father ! 
Indeed  I  have  seldom  seen  my  mother  so  moved. 
She  can  hardly  talk  of  anything  else  ! " 

"Yes,  indeed,"  warmly  assented  Kate.  "My 
father,  too,  is  quite  rejuvenated  by  it.  They 
will  greatly  enjoy  their  day  together  to-morrow. 
We  must  plan  to  have  them  sit  together  in 
riding  and  have  an  uninterrupted  good 
time." 

"  I  want  to  have  a  good  time,  too,"  said  the 
Doctor,  with  a  little  air  of  having  been  left  out 
in  the  plan. 

"Oh,  of  course,"  laughed  Kate.  "Be  good 
and  you  will  be  happy!"  Then  with  rapid 
transition:  "Does  your  mother  enjoy  our 
flowers?" 

"Yes,"  said  the  Doctor,  rather  slowly;  "Oh, 
yes,  come  to  think  of  it ;  she  was  saying  to-day 
that  the  flowers  at  Del  Monte  fairly  bewildered 
her  with  their  variety  and  magnificence." 

"And  our  wild  flowers.  I  hope  she  has 
noticed  them,"  said  Kate.  "  They  are  so  differ 
ent  from  the  Eastern  ones,  I  am  told  ;  even 


CHAUTAUQUA    CIRCLES.  201 

where  they  are  the  same  species  they  will  be  a 
law  unto  themselves,  like  our  people.  Now 
look  at  this  lupine  ;  how  it  has  changed  from 
the  lupine  of  New  England  ! " 

This  was  a  pet  subject  with  the  doctor — the 
morphology  of  plants — and  he  was  beguiled  into 
quite  a  discussion  of  the  wonderful  way  in 
which  plants  traveled  into  new  zones,  throwing 
out  a  woolen  coat  here,  a  coat  of  varnish  there, 
and  stiffening  into  woody  shrubs  where  strong 
winds  were  to  be  buffeted.  Kate's  fancy  seized 
the  idea  joyfully  and  she  drew  a  charming 
picture  of  little  Lady  Lupine  on  her  Western 
pilgrimage. 

"Now  I  call  that  a  prose-poem,"  said  her 
companion.  "How  capable  it  would  be  of 
artistic  illustration !  Ah,  you  have  only  to  look 
at  the  things  about  your  feet  to  find  themes  for 
poems  or  for  pictures  ! 

"  You  do  not  know  how  I  liked  your  'Csed- 
mon.'  I  could  not  say  anything  before  all  those 
people,  but  it  moved  me  very  much.  I  did  not 
know  you  wrote  poetry,  though  I  might  have 
known  that  one  whose  life  was  so  like  'the 


202  KATE   THURSTON'S 

measure  of  a  blessed  hymn '  ought  to  think  in 
poetry." 

"  Oh,  thank  you,  thank  you  ! "  she  said,  "  but 
I  cannot  let  you  so  over-estimate  me.  I  am 
more  prosaic  than  you  fancy.  Most  of  my 
thoughts  are  too  practical  for  belief. 

"  See,  here  we  are  at  our  ultima  thule  !  " 

So  Organ  Rock  was  reached  and  our  friends 
climbed  up  on  the  great  pile  of  rocks  which  over 
looks  the  whole  of  Monterey  Bay.  The  tide 
was  coming  in  and  each  succeeding  wave  seemed 
higher  than  its  predecessor.  Far  out  in  the  bay 
they  could  see  a  wave  marshaling  its  forces  like 
a  long  line  of  battle;  slowly  it  moved  forward,  all 
the  little  billows  giving  way  before  it ;  near  and 
nearer,  high  and  higher,  till  with  thunderous 
crash  it  broke  against  the  mighty  buttresses  of 
the  shore. 

"  Let  us  go  far  out  on  the  cliffs  into  the  very 
heart  of  the  wild  uproar,"  said  the  young  man, 
his  pulses  thrilling  with  the  great  spectacle ; 
and  Kate  very  willingly  suffered  herself  to  be 
led  out  to  the  promontory's  verge. 

With   each   shock   of  the   waves   the  cliffs 


CHAUTAUQ.UA   CIRCLES.  203 

trembled,  and  somewhere  beneath  them  there 
was  a  long  reverberating  roar  like  the  bass  notes 
of  a  great  organ.  Far  to  the  westward  the 
ocean  stretched  away  till  it  met  the  line  of  the 
sky  which  still  glowed  with  the  opaline  hues  of 
sunset.  They  seemed  surrounded  with  the  In 
finite  and  to  be  a  part  of  it. 

With  that  majestic  music  thundering  in  their 
ears,  and  with  the  very  rock  beneath  them 
trembling  with  the  fierce  onset  of  the  waves, 
how  could  the  young  man  speak  of  what  was  in 
his  heart  ?  He  spread  his  overcoat  on  the  rocks, 
wrapped  Kate's  shawl  about  her,  and  they  sat 
in  reverent  silence  for  quite  a  while. 

The  spray  fell  about  them  in  a  fine  mist  at 
first,  but  they  disregarded  it  in  the  delight  of 
watching  the  wild  shock  of  battle,  but  soon  a 
briny  down-pour  of  a  far  damper  sort  drove 
them  back  laughing. 

"  Ah  ! "  cried  Kate,  "  we  are  cowards  : 
'  Some  of  thy  firm  unyielding  might, 
Enduring  still  through  day  and  night 
Rude  tempest  shock  and  withering  blight, 

That  1  may  keep  at  bay 
The  changeful  April  sky  of  chance 
And  the  strong  tide  of  circumstance, 

Give  me,  old  granite  gray ! ' " 


204  KATE  THURSTON'S 

And  so  they  turned  backward,  retracing  their 
steps  along  the  beach.  The  excitement  of  the 
day  was  still  in  Kate's  blood  and  the  stimulus 
of  the  encounter  with  the  waves  was  thrilling 
her  nerves.  Her  companion  thought  she  never 
was  more  brilliant  and  versatile,  and  almost 
before  they  knew  it  they  were  at  the  little  cove 
known  as  "  Chautauqua  Beach,"  where  the 
festivities  of  the  afternoon  had  gone  on.  Here 
Kate  paused  and  described  the  mussel-roast,  re 
peating  the  bright  speeches,  and  making  the 
little  cove  alive  again  in  her  usual  vivid  style. 

The  Doctor  listened  with  polite  external  in 
terest  but  with  a  disturbed  spirit.  Did  she 
purposely  divert  him  in  this  way  ?  She  could 
not  but  know  what  he  was  longing  to  say.  It 
must  be  that  he  was  not  necessary  to  her  as  she 
to  him.  He  was  on  the  verge  of  despair.  She 
had  never  seemed  so  remote  and  elusive. 

"What  do  you  call  that  pretty  point  out 
there?  "  he  asked  half  listlessly,  at  a  little  pause 
in  Kate's  gay  description. 

"That?"  she  asked  following  the  westward 
pointing  of  his  hand.  "Oh,  that," — and  the 


CHAUTAUQUA    CIRCLES.  205 

warm  blood  mounted  to  her  white  temples — 
"that  is  Lovers'  Point." 

He  suddenly  drew  near  her.  "  Oh  Kate  ! "  he 
said,  "  I  cannot  endure  another  hour  of  suspense. 
I  must  know  my  fate.  Can  you  truly?  Will 
you  really  go  out  with  me  on  Lovers' Point  ?" 

She  bent  a  moment  like  a  wind-swept  flower 
and  then  she  put  out  both  her  hands  : 

"Yes,  I  will  go  with  you,"  she  said,  simply 
and  finally. 

The  evening  star  came  out  and  looked  at  them 
approvingly  as  arm  in  arm  they  sauntered  on 
past  the  rustic  outlook  building  with  its  tempt 
ing  seats,  on  to  the  familiar  Point,  and  then  out 
on  its  well  worn  path.  Here  they  encountered 
Kate's  brother  Fred  whom  they  greeted  cor 
dially  and  sent  on  homeward  with  the  message 
that  they  were  coming  presently.  But  Dr. 
Hall  was  blissfully  intent  upon  going  to  the 
utmost  verge  of  Lovers'  Point,  and  Kate  could 
not  say  him  nay.  Indeed  she  had  grown  very 
silent  and  it  was  her  lover's  turn  to  talk  in  low 
and  earnest  tones  upon  that  subject  of  which 
the  shyest  maiden  never  tires. 


206  KATE  THURSTON'8 

And  so  their  young  lives  entered  that  "new 
world  which  is  the  old." 

Meanwhile  Fred  went  home  rather  solemnly 
for  him,  and  when  he  had  reached  that  little 
habitation  he  went  in  and  then  actually  hung 
up  his  hat.  Then  he  sat  down  and  carefully 
delivered  his  message,  but  he  added,  "I  met 
them  away  out  on  Lovers'  Point,  and  truly  they 
looked  for  all  the  world  like  a  lover  and 
loveress ! " 


CHAPTEE  XII. 

AT  CARMEL  MISSION. 

WHATEVER  embarrassment  Kate  might  nat 
urally  have  felt  in  laying  before  her  family 
the  experiences  and  results  of  that  memorable 
walk  was  greatly  relieved  by  the  frank  and 
triumphant  boldness  of  the  conquering  hero. 
He  brought  the  dear  girl  home  in  due  season, 

"  All  kind  of  smiley  round  the  lips 
And  teary  round  the  lashes," 

and  found  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thurston  sitting  to 
gether  by  the  cheerful  blaze  of  pine  cones  in  the 
little  Franklin  stove.  Dr.  Hall  put  his  arm 
around  Kate  and  came  forward  hat  in  hand ; 
then,  without  any  preliminaries,  half  begged, 
half  claimed  the  parental  approbation  and 
blessing. 

There  could  be  but  one  answer  to  such  a 
petition. 


208  KATE   THURSTON'S 

Of  course  there  had  to  be  a  little  subsequent 
visiting,  but  very  soon  Dr.  Hall  rose  to  leave  : 

"Ah,  well,"  he  said,  "  I  must  not  forget  how 
long  and  full  this  day  has  been  to  you  all  and 
that,  as  our  Spanish  friends  say,  'to-morrow 
brings  another  day.'  I  hope  I  am  not  so  com 
pletely  intoxicated  with  my  happiness  that  I 
shall  walk  into  the  bay  on  my  way  to  Del 
Monte  !  My  mother's  appointment  with  you  is 
for  ten  o'clock,  I  think?  We  shall  be  here 
promptly.  I  feel  impatient  already." 

Kate  went  with  him  to  the  door — yes,  out  to 
the  gate,  of  course — and  as  he  kissed  her  good 
night  he  said,  "  I  may  tell  my  mother  this  very 
night,  may  I  not?"  and  she  whispered,  "Yes, 
yes,  I  seem  unable  to  say  anything  but '  yes '  to 
you  to-night." 

"I  will  test  you,"  he  said,  with  gay  daring. 
"  Let  us  be  married  to-morrow  over  at  the  Old 
Mission  by  your  father  ! " 

"No,  no,  no  !"  cried  Kate,  quite  in  her  usual 
fashion,  "and  now  go  directly  away,  you  pre 
sumptuous  youth,  or  I  shall  revoke  all  my 
yeses." 


CHAUTAUQUA  CIRCLES.  209 

Then  he  really  did  go,  and  Kate  went  back  to 
kiss  her  father  and  mother  and  cry  a  little  more. 

Saturday  was  a  true  Monterey  day  with  a 
high  fog  obscuring  the  sun  and  giving  the  sea 
and  the  landscape  that  soft  gray  setting  which 
one  soon  learns  to  appreciate  as  a  restful  and 
beautiful  change. 

In  the  little  tent  everybody  was  trying  to  be 
sweet  and  reasonable  except  Fred.  He  had 
been  wrapped  in  oblivion  the  evening  before 
during  Dr.  Hall's  call,  and  this  morning  was 
taken  into  the  family  confidence  by  his  mother. 
He  now  stoutly  maintained  that  the  whole  pro 
ceeding  was  uncalled  for  and  undesirable  from 
every  point  of  view.  Kate  had  to  take  him  in 
hand  herself  and  assert  that  no  coercion  what 
ever  had  been  used  with  her,  and  that,  on  the 
contrary,  she  had  acted  according  to  the  dictates 
of  her  heart  and  judgment,  and  moreover 
that  the  state  of  affairs  was  by  no  means  unpre 
cedented.  She  succeeded  so  well  that  he 
presented  his  usual  cheerful  front,  enhanced  by 
a  most  painstaking  toilet,  when  the  carriage 
arrived  at  ten  o'clock. 


210  KATE  THURSTON'S 

Dr.  Hall  ran  in  with  a  freedom  which  was  as 
delightful  as  it  was  new. 

"Good  morning,"  he  said,  with  the  brightest 
effaces  ;  "may  I  bring  my  mother  and  cousin 
in  for  a  moment,  Mrs.  Thurston?  "  Then  sotto 
voce  to  Kate,  "Say  yes,  do,  please,  Kate,  and 
break  the  dreadful  spell  of  fear  under  which  I 
am  laboring ! " 

"  Yes,  indeed,"  they  both  replied,  and  in  a 
moment  Mrs.  Hall  had  Kate  in  her  arms  : 

"  My  daughter  ! "  she  said,  kissing  her  warmly ; 
"My  daughter!  I  never  had  the  privilege  of 
saying  that  sweet  phrase  before.  I  am  afraid  I 
shall  want  to  keep  saying  it  all  the  time  to-day." 

And  then  Genevieve  came  forward  with 
genuine  effort  to  be  informal  and  cordial.  It 
was  remarkably  becoming  to  her,  and  Kate  saw 
for  the  first  time  how  pleasing,  when  the  occa 
sion  justified  it,  a  young  lady  of  that  aristocratic 
type  could  be. 

For  herself  she  could  respond  to  all  this  only 
with  blushes  and  smiles,  which,  after  all,  were 
quite  sufficient. 

The  seats  of  the  comfortable  open  wagonette 


CHAUTAUqUA   CIRCLES.  211 

were  amply  wide  for  three  persons.  The  elder 
people  had  the  rear  seat,  the  younger  people  the 
middle  one,  while  Fred  was  delighted  to  be  put 
with  the  driver. 

Their  road  took  them  back  to  Monterey  where 
they  stopped  to  look  at  the  quaint  old  adobe 
houses  and  especially  at  the  historic  places, 
which  the  driver  pointed  out.  At  the  cross 
which  marks  the  point  where  the  old  friars 
landed  in  1770  they  paused  and  gazed  with 
genuine  reverence,  while  Mr.  Thurston,  who 
had  been  making  a  careful  study  of  early  Cali 
fornia  history,  talked  with  deep  appreciation  of 
the  holy  and  self-renouncing  zeal  which  led 
these  devoted  missionaries  to  the  new  world. 
They  were  all  familiar  with  Francis  Parkman's 
noble  historical  work,  "The  Jesuits  in  North 
America,"  and  recalled  its  imperishable  pictures 
of  Pere  Marquette  aud  his  confreres,  who  did  a 
similar  work  in  Canada  and  among  the  savage 
Indian  tribes  of  New  York  and  the  Upper 
Mississippi. 

"  Our  missionary  pioneer,"  said  Mr.  Thurs 
ton,  "  found  here  a  gentler  race  of  savages  and 


212  KATE  THURSTON'S 

a  far  milder  climate,  but  their  consecration  was 
as  sincere  and  their  labors  as  untiring." 

The  driver  pointed  out  the  ruins  of  the  old 
presidio  and  fort  farther  up  the  hill,  showing 
how  the  friars  were  prepared  to  defend  them 
selves  from  foes  who  might  come  by  sea  and 
from  Christian  nations  as  well  as  from  their  in 
land  savage  neighbors. 

In  the  town  of  Monterey  they  looked  with  in 
terest  at  the  old  adobe  barracks  where  later 
Spanish  or  Mexican  soldiers  had  been  quartered, 
and  where  General  Fremont  was  glad  to  house 
his  men  during  his  memorable  campaign. 

They  went  on  and  looked  at  the  more  modern 
Roman  Catholic  church  only  the  foundations  of 
which  date  back  to  mission  days,  but  which 
even  this  touch  of  the  last  century  makes  vener 
able.  Then  they  turned  and  drove  southeast 
ward  toward  Carmel,  stopping  only  for  a  mo 
ment  to  look  at  Colton  Hall,  the  famous  stone 
building  which  Alcalde  Colton  contrived  to  get 
built  by  the  labor  of  criminals  of  various  degrees, 
from  horse  thieves  and  gamblers  down  to  robbers 
of  hen-roosts,  in  the  days  of  '46.  Mr.  Thurston 


CHAUTAUQUA    CIRCLES.  213 

had  just  been  reading  Colton's  book,  "Three 
years  in  California,  '46-' 49,"  and  for  miles  on 
their  pleasant  drive  round  the  spurs  of  Carmel 
Mountain,  he  entertained  his  friends,  old  and 
young,  with  the  stories  of  the  jovial  sailor-parson 
who  came  to  California  as  chaplain  in  the 
United  States  frigate  Savannah  in  1846,  and  so 
was  present  at  the  bloodless  taking  of  Monterey 
by  the  conquering  Yankee,  and  was  subse 
quently  elected  the  first  Yankee  Alcalde  of 
Monterey.  This  office  was  a  droll  combination 
of  Oriental  patriarch,  Indian  chief,  and  modern 
mayor,  and  the  Alcalde  Colton  magnified  his 
office.  His  pictures  of  Mexican  customs  as  they 
prevailed  in  Monterey,  of  the  primitive  life,  the 
friendly,  hospitable  people,  the  scenes  in  his 
justice's  court,  and  his  amusing  but  excellent 
decisions,  were  immensely  enjoyed  by  the  pic 
nickers. 

About  noon  they  reached  the  old  Mission. 
The  sun  was  still  hiding  behind  the  ocean  fog, 
and  so  the  venerable  ruin,  environed  by  the 
green  hills,  seemed  curtained  from  the  "garish 
day  "  by  the  tender  mist. 


214  KATE  THURSTON'S 

It  was  a  beautiful  and  rare  picture  for  America 
— a  veritable  ruin.  The  sun-dried  bricks  of 
which  the  building  was  built  were  originally  a 
creamy  yellow,  while  the  tile  of  the  roof  had 
been  a  deep  terra  cotta,  but  the  sun  and  the 
gentle  touches  of  the  rain  and  fog  had  given  the 
whole  a  tender  olive  gray  hue.  Deserted  as  it 
was  in  the  early  part  of  the  century,  time  had 
crumbled  mortar  and  loosened  wooden  supports ; 
wind  and  weather  and  soft  earthquake  trem 
blings  had  shaken  down  roof  and  wall  till  little 
was  left  intact  save  the  old  bell-tower,  which 
had  stoutly  resisted  decay. 

They  all  alighted  and  went  around  the  grass 
pile,  looked  in  at  the  deep  windows,  and  with 
reverent  steps  entered  the  door  and  walked 
about  on  the  uneven  and  dust-heaped  pavement. 
They  felt  they  indeed  were  on  holy  ground. 
Here  good  Padre  Juanipero  Serra  had  walked 
and  knelt.  Here  from  this  little  mound  which 
was  once  the  altar  he  had  ministered  to  the 
simple  children  of  the  forest  whom  he  loved 
most  earnestly.  Here  somewhere  he  died  and 
was  buried  amid  great  and  heart-felt  lamenta- 


CHAUTAUQUA    CIRCLES.  215 

tion  and  his  dust  was  lying  here  beneath 
his  beloved  church,  waiting  for  the  resurrec 
tion. 

They  looked  up  in  the  old  bell-tower,  now  a 
home  for  gentle  wild  doves,  and  thought  how 
often  it  had  echoed  to  the  soft  clangor  of  the 
bell  calling  the  adeste  fideles,  and  how  strange 
was  the  throng  of  worshipers  it  had  summoned, 
a  poor  race  of  gentle  heathen  whose  civilization 
never  reached  a  point  where  they  did  not  easily 
slip  back  into  savagery  and  whose  theology, 
spite  of  all  the  good  friar's  efforts,  never  was  far 
removed  from  paganism. 

Our  friends  sat  down  on  the  dry  yellow  grass 
outside  the  ruin  and  talked  of  the  pathos  which 
clings  to  the  whole  subject  of  those  early 
missions. 

"Was  any  real  good  accomplished,  do  you 
think,  by  all  the  toil  and  sacrifice?  "  asked  Dr. 
Hall. 

"  Doubtless  some  poor  souls  were  lifted  to 
higher  levels,"  said  Mr.  Thurston  ;  "  and  surely 
God  never  suffers  any  great  earnest  effort  to  go 
unrewarded.  No  pure,  holy,  unselfish  life  is 


216  KATE    THURSTON'S 

lived  in  vain.  It  is  a  benediction  to  itself  and 
to  mankind.  I  hope  I  shall  be  a  better  Christian 
always  for  reading  the  life  of  Father  Serra,  with 
its  picture  of  complete  self-renunciation,  of 
heroic  endurance,  of  high  faith  and  courage 
which  conquered  pain  and  sickness,  and  counted 
all  suffering  joy  if  by  any  means  a  soul  might 
be  saved.  I  was  continually  reminded  in 
reading  it  of  St.  Paul :  '  In  journeyings 
often,  in  perils  of  waters,  in  perils  of 
robbers,  in  perils  by  my  own  countrymen, 
in  perils  by  the  heathen,  in  perils  in  the 
wilderness.  In  weariness  and  painfulness, 
in  watchings  often,  in  hunger  and  thirst,  in 
fastings  often,  in  cold  and  nakedness.  Besides 
those  things  that  are  without,  that  which 
cometh  upon  me  daily,  the  care  of  all  the 
churches.' 

"All  these  things  literally  made  up  Father 
Serra' s  life  as  he  journeyed  from  one  Mission 
Station  to. another,  from  San  Francisco  Bay  to 
San  Diego." 

Kate  picked  a  little  blossom  that  grew  at  her 
feet : 


CHAUTAUQUA     CIRCLES.  217 

"  And  still  the  wilding  flowers  will  bloom, 

The  golden  leaves  will  fall, 
The  seasons  come,  the  seasons  go, 

And  God  be  good  to  all," 

she  softly  recited. 

"Ah,  true,  true,  my  dear,"  Mrs.  Hall  said. 
"  We  have  only  to  trust.  Both  nature  and  the 
written  Word  teach  us  the  same  lesson  of  the 
Eternal  Goodness." 

"  I  was  thinking  just  now  of  Longfellow's 
poem,  'The  Bells  of  San  Bias,'  "  said  Dr.  Hall. 
"  I  think  it  is  the  message  which  haunts  all  these 
old  Mission  Campaniles,"  and  he  quoted  with 
fine  feeling  and  effect : 

What  say  the  bells  of  San  Bias 
To  the  ships  that  southward  pass  ? 


For  bells  are  the  voice  of  the  church 
They  have  tones  that  touch  and  search 

The  hearts  of  young  and  old. 
One  sound  to  all,  yet  each 
Lends  a  meaning  to  their  speech, 

And  the  meaning  is  manifold. 

They  are  the  voice  of  the  past, 
Of  an  age  that  is  fading  fast. 

Of  a  power  austere  and  grand ; 
When  the  flag  of  Spain  unfurled 
Its  folds  o'er  the  western  world 

And  the  Priest  was  lord  of  the  land. 


218  KATE   THURSTON'S 

Is  then  the  old  faith  dead  ? 
They  say,  and  in  its  stead 

Is  some  new  faith  proclaimed, 
That  we  are  left  to  remain 
Naked  to  sun  and  rain, 

Unsheltered  and  ashamed  ? 

The  saints,  ah,  have  they  grown 
Forgetful  of  their  own? 

Are  they  asleep  or  dead, 
That  open  to  the  sky 
Their  ruined  Missions  lie 

No  longer  tenanted  ? 

Oh  bring  us  back  once  more 
The  vanished  days  of  yore, 

When  the  world  with  faith  was  filled. 
Bring  back  the  fervid  zeal, 
The  hearts  of  fire  and  steel, 

The  hands  that  believe  and  build ! 

Then  from  our  towers  again 

We  will  send  over  land  and  main 

Our  voices  of  command, 
Like  exiled  kings  who  return 
To  their  thrones,  and  the  people  learn 

That  the  Priest  is  lord  of  the  land. 

Oh  bells  of  San  Bias,  in  vain 
Ye  call  back  the  past  again, 

The  past  is  deaf  to  your  prayer. 
Out  of  the  shadows  of  night 
The  world  rolls  into  the  light, 

It  is  daybreak  everywhere ! 

No  one  seemed  ready  to  go  but  Fred  who  had 
been  obscurely  signaling  his  sister  for  some 
minutes  ere  the  driver  respectfully  called  to 
them  that  Cannel  Bay  was  still  some  distance 
beyond.  So  they  rose  and  moved  slowly  away 


CHAUTAUQUA    CIRCLES.  219 

with  many  a  thoughtful  backward  glance. 
There  was  a  majesty  about  the  crumbling  ruin 
lying  there  in  utter  loneliness  that  impressed 
each  heart.  They  seemed  to  be  going  softly  out 
of  a  room  where  one  lay  with  folded  hands  and 
sealed  lips  waiting  the  eternal  morning. 

Genevieve  Grant  had  been  busying  herself 
with  a  sketch  of  the  scene  which  she  now 
showed  them.  It  pleased  Kate  wonderfully, 
for  it  not  only  showed  the  trained  eye  and  hand 
but  had  caught  the  spirit  of  the  place,  and  it 
brought  the  two  girls  nearer  to  each  other. 

They  drove  on  through  enchanting  scenery 
and  ere  long  the  blue  water  shone  in  the  dis 
tance  and  Carmel  Bay  was  before  them.  There 
they  made  preparations  for  a  longer  stay. 
Cushions  and  fur  robes,  of  which  Mrs.  Hall  had 
ordered  a  double  portion,  were  spread  under  a 
great  oak,  with  all  the  charming  landscape  and 
seascape  in  full  view. 

"  How  sheltered  and  warm  it  seems  with  this 
sunny  southern  exposure  ! "  said  Mrs.  Thurston, 
who  often  found  herself  shivering  at  Pacific 
Grove. 


220  KATE  THURSTON'8 

"What  a  pity  that  Del  Monte  isn't  here!" 
said  Mrs.  Hall.  "  I  think  that  the  Mission 
Fathers  were  wiser  in  their  generation  than 
even  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad." 

"Well,  I'm  glad  we're  here  instead  of  at  Del 
Monte  !"  said  Dr.  Hall. 

The  luxurious  lunch  was  spread  on  a  large 
red  cloth  placed  on  the  grass.  With  the  help  of 
a  spirit  lamp  a  delicious  pot  of  tea  was  brewed, 
and  all  enjoyed  the  feast. 

Mr.  Thurston  and  Mrs.  Hall  told  stories  of  old- 
time  picnics,  and  clam-bakes,  and  fishing  parties 
on  the  other  side  of  the  continent,  and  if  to 
their  own  hearts  there  was  a  continual  under 
tone  of  sadness  over  the  memories  of  change 
and  death,  they  were  too  kind  and  wise  to 
throw  any  shadows  over  the  young  lives  which 
to-day  were  so  happy  in  hope  and  love. 

By  and  by  the  young  people  very  naturally 
drifted  away  from  the  elder  ones.  Genevieve 
and  Fred  had  grown  friendly  and  went  together 
to  search  among  the  pebbles  of  the  beach  for 
shining  treasures,  while  Dr.  Hall  and  Kate 
strolled  on  down  a  woodland  path  to  gather 


CHAUTAUQUA    CIRCLES.  221 

mariposa  lilies  which  grew  in  splendid  clusters 
in  the  open  glades — flora,  butterflies,  their  white 
wings  spotted  with  royal  purple,  poising  on 
their  delicate  stems  as  if  for  an  aerial  flight. 

Did  they  walk  beneath  the  oaks  and  pines  of 
Carmel  Bay  and  gather  mariposa  lilies  ?  Nay, 
they  walked  in  the  old,  old  garden,  and  the 
lilies  were  those  of  paradise. 


CHAPTEE  XHI. 

THE  LAST  BOUND  TABLE. 

THAT  evening  found  our  young  people  again 
walking  by  the  sea  at  Pacific  Grove.  They  had 
begun  to  plan  a  little  for  their  future,  although 
this  was  novel  and  trying  work  for  Kate  who 
was  far  more  accustomed  to  plan  for  others. 

"  We  will  have  a  year  or  two  of  Europe  pretty 
soon,  I  hope.  I  must  have  a  winter  in  Paris  for 
study,"  said  Dr.  Hall,  and  Kate,  to  whose  young 
imagination  the  art  and  architecture  of  the  Old 
World  had  always  seemed  an  unattainable 
dream,  thrilled  with  delight,  and  then  with  a 
rebound  thought  of  the  wide  separation  from 
home  and  friends  with  almost  a  shudder. 

"'Where  thou  goest  I  will  go,'"  she  said 
gently,  but  her  heart  whispered  another  Scrip 
ture  cry,  "alas,  my  father." 

"You  know,   dear,"   the  voice  of  her  com- 


OHAUTAUQUA    CIRCLES.  223 

panion  went  on,  "  I  came  to  California  and  San 
Benito  only  to  build  up  after  my  long  years  of 
study,  when  I  was  not  wise  enough  to  remem 
ber  that  I  had  a  body  as  well  as  a  brain,  and 
now  I  feel  restless  to  try  a  somewhat  wider 
sphere  than  that  little  town,  upon  which,  how 
ever,"  he  added  suddenly,  "be  blessings  for- 
evermore." 

"  Oh,  I'm  very  glad  you  remembered  to  say 
that,  Philip!"  laughed  Kate.  Then  more 
soberly  she  said,  "  My  dear  Chautauquans ! 
How  I  shall  miss  them,  if  we  go  away  ! " 

"  How  they  will  miss  you  ! "  he  rejoined.  "  I 
really  dread  to  face  them.  I  fear  they  will  load 
me  with  undeserved  reproaches.  It  is  so  im 
possible  in  this  world  to  be  unselfish.  I  plead 
guilty  to  the  basest  selfishness  myself,"  and  he 
pressed  her  arm  closer.  "  I  am  so  happy  over 
your  promise  to  my  mother  to  have  our  wed 
ding  day  before  she  goes  home  in  September, 
that  I  am  willing  to  confess  to  any  crime  the 
Chautauquans  may  charge  me  with  in  the  heat 
of  their  first  displeasure  ! " 

"You  absurd  boy!"   said  Kate.      "They'll 


224  KATE  THURSTON'S 

not  be  displeased  at  all.  Are  we  not  to  spend 
this  winter  in  San  Benito?  We  needn't  tell 
them  about  our  castles  in  Spain." 

"Ah,  the  subtleties  of  woman  !"  exclaimed 
the  young  man.  "  Now  I  am  so  transparent  I 
was  going  to  take  them  all  into  my  confidence. 
Thanks  for  your  bright  suggestion  !  I  feel  so 
bold  now  that  I  would  like  to  face  these  Chau- 
tauquans  before  I  lose  my  ardor,"  and  he  drew 
Kate,  a  little  shy  and  reluctant,  toward  the 
San  Benito  settlement. 

They  found  that  quite  a  number  of  the  Chau- 
tauquans  had  already  gone  home,  but  the 
Brooks  and  the  Leib  families  still  remained 
with  a  few  others,  and  now  were  gathered  in 
the  dining  tent  reading  the  San  Benito  Star. 
Our  young  people  were  greeted  with  the  usual 
warmth,  but  although  every  one  tried  to  look 
unconscious  and  unsuspicious,  there  was  just  a 
shade  of  expectancy  in  some  of  the  faces,  a  sort 
of  covert  is-it-all-settled  ?  air,  which  sent  the 
color  signals  flying  to  Kate's  cheek.  They  took 
the  proffered  seats  which  were  urged  upon  them 
and  joined  the  circle. 


CHAUTAUQUA    CIRCLES.  225 

"  I've  quite  an  important  communication  to 
make  to  the  Circle,"  said  Dr.  Hall  with  an  air  of 
great  solemnity.  "  It  is  my  painful  duty  to  tell 
you  that  Miss  Thurston  will  not  be  able  to  accept 
the  presidency  of  our  Circle  next  year.  Indeed 
she  doesn't  expect  to  return  to  San  Benito." 

There  was  a  general  outburst  of  lamentation, 
ejaculation,  and  finally  of  expostulation  and  in 
dignation. 

"  Not  teach  our  school  any  more?  "  cried  little 
John  Leib  with  a  quivering  lip,  looking  up  into 
his  beloved  teacher's  face. 

"My  friends,"  said  Dr.  Hall,  "you  inter 
rupted  me.  I  merely  said  Miss  Thurston  was 
not  coming  back.  A  lady  of  a  different  name  is 
going  to  supply  her  place  except  in  one  regard  : 
she  will  take  but  one  pupil  and  give  him  her  un 
remitting  attention." 

"  I  shall  do  nothing  of  the  sort,"  cried  Kate, 
"  I'm  entirely  opposed  to  monopolies  ! " 

They  crowded  about  the  young  pair  with 
hand-shaking  and  congratulations,  all  eager  to 
say  that  it  was  just  what  had  been  predicted 
and  that  it  was  wholly  approved. 


226  KATE  THURSTON'S 

Then  when  they  settled  down  again,  Mr.  Leib 
said,  "  Since  this  is  a  Chautauqua  Circle  I  think 
we  should  come  to  order  and  have  some  speeches. 
I  will  call  on  our  friend  John  Thompson." 

So  John  got  upon  his  feet  and  said  with  vastly 
more  ease  than  he  could  have  made  such  a 
speech  a  year  previous,  that  if  Miss  Thurston 
had  anything  like  the  success  with  one  pupil 
that  she  had  had  with  the  Chautauqua  Circle, 
all  the  ladies  in  San  Benito  would  be  taking 
lessons.  Finally  he  said  that  this  sort  of  pro 
ceeding  in  a  Chautauqua  Circle  was  a  little 

dangerCtfs  as  jt  was.apt^t(g..be  catching,  and  he 

- '  •  .       t 

looked  at  Jennie  Brooks  m  a  way  that  was  sug 
gestive.  *'  «.  " 

"  I  will  call  on  Mrs.  Brooks,"  said  Mr.  Leib, 

,<r' 

keeping  up  the/sho^  pf  formality. 

Dear  Mrs.  Brooks  stood  up  and  said,  "God 
bless  them!"  and  then  sat  down.  No  one 
else  seemed  moved  to  speak  so  Mr.  Leib  made 
his  little  speech  : 

"  Generally  people  are  not  quite  pleased  with 
their  friends'  matches,  but  here  is  one  we  all  do 
like.  Chautauqua  Circles  are  good,  but  happy 


CHAUTAUQUA   CIRCLES.  227 

homes  are  better  still,  and  I  think  from  what  I 
see,  Chautauqua  Circles  do  make  happy  homes. 
I  say  with  Mrs.  Brooks  to  our  young  friends, 
God  bless  you  !" 

Kate  rose  superior  to  her  shyness :  "  Dear 
friends,"  she  said,  "happiness  is  very  sweet, 
love  is  very  sweet,  and  I  thank  you  all  for  what 
you  have  said.  I  think  to  try  to  do  a  little  good 
in  the  world  is  the  sweetest  and  most  rewardful 
thing  of  all.  I  say  with  all  my  heart,  God  bless 
my  Chautauquans ! " 


"f^Tf».Tf  A     T  TDD  ADV 


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Return  this  material  to  the  library 

from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


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F454k  Kate  Thurs ton's 
1891   Chautauqua 


circles 


PS 

1669 
F454k 
1891 


